Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at an event in Delhi on Wednesday to mark World Day for Older Persons. (PTI)

New Delhi, Oct. 1: Manmohan Singh today described himself as “captain” but said his party had several leaders “better qualified than him”, prompting the Congress to strike a guarded posture on the questions his statements evoked.

Singh told reporters on his flight back from Paris that it was “too early” to talk about a potential prime ministerial candidate. “The Congress has several leaders who are equally qualified or better qualified than I am. I have not applied my mind to that sort of a question,” he said.

The statement would have been treated as polite self-deprecation in normal conversations but not in Congress politics. Congress leaders admitted to being “foxed” by the remarks and some wondered if it was Singh’s way of “gently” teasing out a formal commitment from the party on a candidate.

The Congress has never declared its leader before an election. It has been assumed an incumbent will continue if the party retains power.

Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed suggested Sonia Gandhi’s statement on August 15 was the “official line”.

The Congress chief had said “Singh would be back at Red Fort to deliver the Independence Day speech in 2009”, implying he would be Prime Minister if the party won.

Asked if he would unfurl the Tricolour from the Red Fort again, Singh had replied: “I hope so.” Moments later, Sonia interjected: “Why not? Certainly.”

Today, a general secretary, considered close to the Prime Minister and Rahul Gandhi, echoed the tradition of not projecting anyone. “Dr Singh is already there as the incumbent PM. He hadn’t applied his mind (to being PM) before the last polls. It was a harmless answer to a pointed question.”

Congress leaders said they didn’t emulate US presidential campaigns, followed by the BJP, where the spotlight was on an individual and “our-leader-versus-a-blank” slogans.

In recent weeks, Singh has come across as a Prime Minister in command as well as someone who can be politically adroit. This was evident in the way he handled the nuclear deal.

Other assertions of authority were in evidence, too. “As finance minister, I was only a member of the team but now I am the captain of the team,” he replied to a question whether the country was seeing a transformed Manmohan.