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Digvijay not to join Cong Govt

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Press Trust of India New Delhi

Congress leader Digvijay Singh today said his suggestion that the party should contest Lok Sabha polls alone in Uttar Pradesh was considered "not good" by some people, but the party's spectacular performance have proved them wrong.

Singh, who is in-charge of party affairs of Uttar Pradesh, said he was pleased that the party tally in the hindi heartland has gone up from only nine in 2004 to more than 20 now.

"My suggestion to make the Congress contest the elections alone in Uttar Pradesh was not considered good by some but these people have been proved wrong now," Singh told PTI.  

The Congress leader also sought to scotch speculation about his joining the party-led UPA Government at the Centre, saying he prefers to work for the organisation.  

"There is absolutely no question of my joining the next government which will be headed again by Manmohan Singh. I always prefer to work for the organisation rather than the government. I would love to be outside the government rather than inside it," he said.  

Singh said he is still abiding by his promise made before the December 2003 Assembly polls in the Madhya Pradesh that he would not contest any election for 10 years if the Congress lost in that state.  

"I think I will contest an election in 2014," he said. When asked the reason for his younger brother Laxman Singh's defeat from the Rajgarh constituency where he was the BJP nominee, he said, "we obviously worked hard for a Congress win."         

Singh said that another reason for his brother's defeat could be that this time the voters did believe he seriously wanted to get Laxman Singh defeated.         

About Madhya Pradesh, he expressed happiness at the Congress tally and said that the party's state unit chief, Suresh Pachouri would also have won had he contested the elections.

 

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First Published: May 17 2009 | 1:09 PM IST

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