Local Congress chief to take on Modi in Vadodara

, March 21:

' city unit chief Narendra Rawat will take on

in Vadodara Lok Sabha constituency but the party is still undecided on a nominee to be fielded against the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate in Varanasi.

Rawat has emerged as the party candidate in Vadodara after the primaries held for the seat, party spokesman Shaktisinh Gohil said on Friday.

Congress has declared that it will give a tough fight to Modi both in Varanasi and Vadodara.

It has, however, refused to specify who will be the nominee in Varanasi, saying at least three candidates have been shortlisted.

Meanwhile, a former Congress MP J K Jain suggested that senior leader Karan Singh would be the ideal candidate to take on Modi in Varanasi since Singh is a scholar, well versed in the Hindu ancient scriptures and had been associated with the Benaras Hindu University.

Party General Secretary Madhusudan Mistry had said a few days back that the Congress will give a "good fight" to Modi on Varanasi seat and did not rule out fielding an ‘outsider'.

Among the local candidates, the names of Rajesh Mishra and Ajay Rai are doing the rounds. A section in the Congress wants an influential leader pitched against Modi, while others want a celebrity to be fielded against him.

A section feels that after the exit of BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi from the electoral contest from the holy city, fielding a Brahmin candidate by Congress could be advantageous.

Senior Congress leader Anil Shastri in a tweet had said "If BSP & SP are serious on defeating Modi from Varanasi, they along with Congress should put up a joint candidate against him".

PTI