UP elections: It'll be my pleasure to be CM, says Sriprakash Jaiswal

LUCKNOW: The infighting within the UP Congress over its chief ministerial candidate came to the fore again on Thursday, when coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said he was ready to serve as CM, if the party directed him to do so. “I’m ready for the job, if the high command asks me to be CM and MLAs elect me their leader,” he said after voting in Kanpur.

Told that his name was doing the rounds for the CM’s post, he said: “It will be my pleasure to serve as CM, if the high command asks me to and gives me its aashirvad (blessings)”. Jaiswal’s statement was rebutted by Pradip Jain Aditya, party MP from Jhansi and Union minister of state for rural development. “Such statements are premature. Elected representatives will elect the leader after elections.”

Others in the race include PCC chief Rita Bahugana Joshi, legislature party leader in the Vidhan Sabha Pramod Tiwari and Barabanki MP PL Punia, a dalit leader who is also chairperson of National Commission for SCs.