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Sonia didn't interfere in ticket distribution: Kesri

Congress president Sitaram Kesri says that former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's widow Sonia did not interfere in the distribution of party tickets.

Asked by the media at Calcutta whether Sonia had become the second power centre in the party, Kesri said she is a great lady. ''I am grateful to her,'' he said.

Asked whether Sonia would become the prime minister if the Congress wins, Kesri recalled her oft-repeated statement that 'she was not in politics for power'.

On whether he would be the prime minister, Kesri remarked, ''I will be the Congress president.''

Asked why his party could not project a prime ministerial candidate like the BJP, Kesri said the present party constitution does not allow this. ''Let the constitution be amended,'' he added.

He also criticised the BJP's printing its manifesto on imported newsprint.

Asked whether Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress would spoil Congress prospects in the coming polls in West Bengal, he said, ''I don't want to talk about insignificant organisations and persons.''

UNI

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