"Congress party general secretary says that media has got it wrong on the issue"

India's ruling Congress party general secretary Digvijay Singh says that party youth icon Rahul Gandhi never said no to being the prime minister of the country.

Moreover, Gandhi, 42, who was elevated as vice-president of the party and formally given number two status in the party behind his mother Sonia Gandhi in January this year shocked party members earlier this month with the fact that his priority was not to become the prime minister but to strengthen the party.

In fact, Singh said on Tuesday, that he [Rahul Gandhi] never said that he did not want to become prime minister and that the media has got this wrong. If people want him to become the prime minister, then why not?

Fact-fully, Singh is considered close to Rahul Gandhi.

Unwilling entrant to politics...

Earlier this month, Gandhi had told party lawmakers at an informal session that the prime minister’s post was not his priority and he believe in long-term politics. Asking him whether he want to be prime minister is a wrong question, while Rahul said, discouraging all those demanding his projection as the prime ministerial candidate of the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

Rahul Gandhi, who like his father Rajiv Gandhi, was a unwilling entrant to politics, had thrown open the big question as to who would become the next prime minister should the UPA manage to emerge victorious for the third consecutive time in next year’s general elections.

Obligatory prime minister Manmohan Singh, who has already created a record by becoming the longest serving prime minister out of the elite Gandhi-Nehru family will complete nine years in the post in May this year while he will be 81 years in September this year and is considered too old to continue in the post for a third term.

It's a Debate...

Rahul while showing his indifference in the post, however, did not comment who he would prefer as the next prime minister. Several names have since cropped up as the prospective prime ministerial candidate ever since Rahul Gandhi said that becoming prime minister was not his priority. The names doing the rounds include home minister P. Chidambaram, defence minister A.K. Antony, Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar and Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit.

Moreover, Sonia Gandhi, who turned down the presidential invite to take over as prime minister in 2004 and instead nominated Manmohan Singh, is unlikely to pitch in now, mainly to avoid the debate about her Italian origin.

Singh said while clarifying that Rahul Gandhi had not thus far ruled out the option of becoming prime minister, what is being reported in the press has caused some mistaken notion.

Absolute interestingly, earlier on Tuesday, Singh termed Rahul Gandhi as a mature leader while talking with a private news channel while speaks out that Rahul Gandhi is mature enough to handle the intricacies of coalition politics, Singh had said while giving his opinion that he should not opt to nominate anyone for the prime minister’s post if the party emerges victorious in the next general elections.

As a concluding fact, Singh had said in the interview that he strongly feel that when time comes and if the Congress party gets the majority or it is in a position to form the government, he think Rahul Gandhi should take the call.

Anything is possible here, after all it's a political game!

(AW:Samrat Biswas)