In a clear reference to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Union minister of state for human resource development Shashi Tharoor said if a party is voted to power, its president or VP would be the natural choice for prime ministership. He, however, stressed that the Congress doesn't need to name its prime ministerial candidate before the elections.

Tharoor was talking to reporters after addressing the National Conference on Women Empowerment organised by Ignisense Education Academy in Bhopal on Sunday. "And all know who is the president and vice president of our party. If we are voted to power, then naturally one among them could become the prime minister," he said without taking any name.

When questioned about whether Lok Sabha elections later this year would be a direct political battle between Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, he said, "In India, people vote for the party and then the elected representatives elect their leader." This unlike in the US where it was a direct contest between President Barack Obama and Republican Party nominee Mitt Romney, he added.

On whether Modi had prime ministerial qualities, Tharoor did not comment. Neither did he comment on Modi's controversial remark about his wife Sunanda Pushkar, whom the chief minister had called a “Rs 50-crore girlfriend”.