Rahul agrees to become PM candidate after much persuasion by Sonia, Priyanka

Rahul wants the names of at least 150 candidates be announced by the end of January. That was the reason why Sonia Gandhi on Thursday set up screening committees for all states to shortlist candidates.

Rahul is unwilling to give tickets to all sitting Congress MPs because of the sour experience in the recently held state assembly polls, when most of the sitting Congress candidates in Rajasthan and Delhi got tickets and lost badly.

For Uttar Pradesh, Rahul Gandhi has entrusted the work of selecting candidates to his confidante Jitendra Singh. In 2009, the Congress had won 21 LS seats from UP alone.
 
At a meeting today with the chairmen of all screening committees, Rahul Gandhi issued stern directives to follow the benchmarks set for selecting candidates.

Priyanka Vadra will look after the party's poll campaign from behind the scenes, aided by Jairam Ramesh.