Recently the HRD Minister Arjun Singh and certain allies of the Congress proposed that the Congress fight the next elections with Rahul Gandhi as the proposed prime minister. Immediately Sonia Gandhi called Arjun Singh. If we believe Jayanti Natarajan, the Congress spokesperson, it was to admonish Arjun Singh for his sycophantic remarks. But the fact remains that Rahul Gandhi is being projected as a future prime minister. Only we do not know whether it would be in the next Lok Sabha or the one after that.
Is Rahul Gandhi capable enough to be the prime minister in the next Lok Sabha? I think not. He has been in politics for long enough and he has shown neither initiative nor innovativeness. He still appears to need the shelter of his mother. His performance as an electoral leader in the Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat polls has been pathetic. He would be even more of a puppet prime minister than Manmohan Singh. That is my view. However it is the view of Sonia Gandhi that will count.
Sonia Gandhi is an astute lady. She will announce Rahul Gandhi’s name ahead of the elections only if that announcement will fetch the Congress electoral gains. Those who are committed to the Congress would anyway vote for the Congress. Similarly those who are committed elsewhere would anyway not vote for the Congress. Therefore Sonia Gandhi has to assess how an announcement of Rahul Gandhi’s candidature for prime minister would affect the fence sitters. On the negative side is the fact that many fence sitters have been impressed by Manmohan Singh’s performance and would not look too kindly at him being replaced. Another negative is Rahul Gandhi’s lack of caliber discussed earlier. On the plus side is Rahul Gandhi’s youth, which is an attraction to the young voting population. The process of attracting the youth has already begun by inducting young blood into the cabinet.
The major reason in favor of Rahul Gandhi does not have anything to do with electoral gains. If Sonia Gandhi allows Manmohan Singh one more term then he may get entrenched so strongly that she may be unable to replace him later. Musical chairs has been a favorite game of the Gandhi household since the time of Indira Gandhi. Unfortunately for Sonia Gandhi there are no other candidates and therefore Sonia Gandhi may have to take a chance with Rahul Gandhi even though he is not yet ready for the top job. But then the announcement will come after the elections, assuming that the Congress is the lead party in forming the government. That is the reason Sonia Gandhi does not want a premature announcement. Being against sycophancy has nothing to do with it.
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