Cong not to project CM candidate in Guj, HP

Party spokesman P C Chacko replied in the negative when asked at the AICC briefing if the party would project any CM candidate in the polls.

Generally, Congress refrains from naming a chief ministerial candidate in any state maintaining that the newly elected party MLAs in consultation with the high command would decide the issue.

The last time Congress named a CM candidate was Amarinder Singh in Punajb in January this year, but the move did not succeed.

Congress is expected to have a keen tussle with BJP in Narendra Modi-run Gujarat and Prem Kumar Dhumal-led Himachal Pradesh. Congress is out of power in Gujarat for the past 15 years.

Gujarat elections will be held in two phases on December 13 and 17, while polls in Himachal Pradesh will take place on November 4.

Chacko also dismissed suggestions that the electoral battle in Gujarat was a Narendra Modi vs Sonia Gandhi affair. He said that such attempts by Modi are "going to boomerang".

He said Congress was ready for elections and was "quite confident" about the outcome in the two states.

"Wild allegations is the brand of Modi's politics", he said when asked about the latest attack by the Gujarat Chief Minister on the Congress President and the Centre in seeking details of expenses on Gandhi's foreign travels.