The Congress will project its president Sonia Gandhi as prime ministerial candidate in the 2004 general election, party spokesperson S Jaipal Reddy said on Monday.

Reddy, who was briefing newsmen about the day's proceeding of the party's ongoing Vichar Manthan Shivir in Shimla, said no one in the Congress or among its likely electoral allies would object to her being projected for the top post.

"No one will raise this issue and this is a closed chapter," he said.