India's Rahul Gandhi to lead party campaign, not formal PM candidate

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (C), Chief of India's ruling Congress party Sonia Gandhi (R) and her son, lawmaker Rahul Gandhi, attend a meeting of the extended Congress Working Committee in New Delhi January 16, 2014. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's Rahul Gandhi will lead the Congress party's campaign for national elections due by May, but he will not be formally announced as the party's candidate for prime minister, a senior party leader said on Thursday.

"The 2014 election campaign will be led by Mr Rahul Gandhi," Janardan Dwivedi told reporters after a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, but added that it was not in the party's tradition to name candidates for prime minister.