'Hold your horses', Congress tells media on Priyanka Gandhi's role in UP

New Delhi: Congress on Thursday parried questions over the possibility of Priyanka Gandhi being pitchforked as the top campaigner for the party in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.

"As Ghulam Nabi Azad has said that as and when something is decided, you will hear about it," party spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters replying to a volley of questions on Ms Priyanka.

Mr Tewari's advice to the media was to "hold your horses" on the matter as "responsibility ultimately lies with one who disseminates information".

He was told as to how media could be blamed when some Congress leaders were themselves talking about such a possibility as also those working with Prashant Kishor, the poll strategist who has been roped in by the party for Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

"It's the silly season," he remarked when reporters contended that they are being blamed for the "indecisiveness" of the Congress leadership on the issue.

Silly season stories are generally-meant stories at time of the year when Parliament and the law courts are not sitting and generation of news is low.

So far Ms Priyanka has been campaigning in Parliamentary constituencies of Amethi and Rae Bareli and party leaders have been saying it is for her to decide on canvassing support for the party all over the state.

Reports also had it that veteran leader Sheila Dikshit is likely to be projected as the Congress chief ministerial candidate in the key state.

There has been divergence of opinion in the Congress over Ms Priyanka being made the top campaigner in Uttar Pradesh with a section insisting that she should canvass support for the party all over the country in the next Lok Sabha polls and should not focus on a state poll.

Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is the AICC general secretary in charge of the state, is having meetings with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi in the last few days over the poll strategy.