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India's ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Gandhi on Monday denied the rumor that she will contest polls against the country's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial contender Narendra Modi from Varanasi.
The country's largest daily newspaper Times of India reported on Monday that "Priyanka Gandhi is reliably learned to have been very keen to be the Congress candidate in the holy city. But the party leadership finally decided against fielding her."
However, Priyanka, the sister of Rahul Gandhi, told a local news channel that report is not true.
"I have always said my focus is on the two seats of Amethi and Rae Bareli and that remains the case," She said.
She also said that her family would never stop her from contesting an election. "My brother, mother and husband would wholeheartedly support me if I ever wanted to," she said, refuting the media report.
She further confirmed that it was her personal decision to not contest elections even as her brother Rahul Gandhi has often urged her to.
"This is entirely my own personal decision and I will change it only when I feel from within me that I should," said the mother-of- two.
Opinion polls have suggested that the BJP will form the next government with Modi as the prime minister while the Congress is facing its worst ever defeat because of its inability to tackle corruption and inflation.
