LK Advani, Rahul Gandhi: Grim and grin

Chennai/New Delhi, Jan. 8: The Congress’s Pranab Mukherjee today said the “day is not far off” when 38-year-old Rahul Gandhi would be Prime Minister, even as the BJP’s elders continued to squabble over who among them would be the party’s candidate for the post.

Asked by a delegate at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas about the prospects of young leaders, Mukherjee pointed out that Omar Abdullah had become chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir at 38 and, before him, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta had become chief minister of Assam when he was a postgraduate student. Rajiv Gandhi had taken over as Prime Minister when he was 40, Mukherjee added.

“So the day is not far off when Rahul will follow in the footsteps of his father,” the external affairs minister said in Chennai, triggering speculation whether this was a signal that the young Gandhi would be the party’s candidate in the elections this year.

So far, the Congress has held that it will not project a prime ministerial candidate but that if it were to return to power, Manmohan Singh would be the “natural” choice.

“After all, he is the incumbent with an unblemished image and acceptable to all,” a cabinet minister said.

The Congress and the UPA’s “philosophy and programmes” will be symbolised by the Manmohan-Sonia-Rahul triumvirate, sources said. “Each of them represents unique attributes which are complimentary and not contradictory,” a source said.

Sonia Gandhi had on August 15 made it clear Singh would be the party’s choice for the post. The Prime Minister was asked if he would be back at Red Fort for the Independence Day address in 2009. Before he could respond, Sonia said: “Certainly.”

But Congress leaders have off and on tried to push Rahul for the post.

Party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi suggested Rahul would be the party’s face in 2009 when he commented on the tussle between L.K. Advani and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat on who should be the BJP’s choice for Prime Minister. In a country where 70 per cent of voters were young, the spectacle of octogenarians jockeying for power even before they were within striking distance was unseemly, he said.

Those claiming to be in the know said Rahul was not inclined to become Prime Minister now, but that he would become a minister if the Congress were to return to power.

However, Congress sources admitted there would be a problem if they needed the Left’s support again — Prakash Karat and Singh are not best of friends. “Then it’ll be interesting to see who the consensus candidate could be,” a source said.