New Delhi: It could all become official with speculation gaining ground that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh intends to declare AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi as the Congress’ candidate for Prime Minister on January 3.
With the BJP racing ahead by naming Narendra Modi to lead the NDA in the 2014 general election, the chorus to project Rahul Gandhi as the Congress’ PM candidate has been growing in his party over the past few months.
On Monday, finance minister P. Chidambaram, while speaking to a TV channel, also favoured the view in the Congress about naming its PM candidate. “I think today in parliamentary elections as well as state elections voters tend to ask who is the leader. Therefore, in my view, the party should project a person as the leader of the party who will become PM if the party forms the government,” Chidambaram said.
After being routed in Assembly polls in four states, the Congress feels that naming Gandhi as PM candidate could change the grim scenario for the party and enthuse party workers.
PM will not quit early
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has been trying to send signals that he is set to cleanse the party and is in no mood to tolerate corruption. Stepping out of his shell, Rahul Gandhi has been speaking on a number of issues, ranging from the Lokpal Bill to the Adarsh housing scam in Mumbai.
The Prime Minister, who is expected to make this announcement at his press conference on January 3, had earlier made it clear that he was willing to work under Rahul Gandhi. “I have always maintained that Rahul Gandhi would be an ideal choice for the PM post after the 2014 elections. I will be happy to work in the Congress under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi,” Dr Singh had said on his way back from the G-20 Summit in Russia in September. The Prime Minister is also likely to release a report highlighting the achievements in 10 years of UPA rule.
Meanwhile, the PMO on Tuesday denied reports that Dr Singh was going to step down as PM before the 2014 polls. While the PMO issued a statement saying “the Prime Minister will complete his tenure”, information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari attacked the media for its “baseless” speculation. “I know on December 31 there is little news but this does not mean that absurd, baseless and incorrect news stories should be run,” Tewari fumed. For him, “Prime Minister, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are the trinity of the Congress.” On being asked about Rahul Gandhi being projected as the Congress’ PM candidate, Tewari said: “Rahul Gandhi is the natural leader of the Congress.”
In his bid to sound positive and optimistic, Tewari, while talking about the Congress being routed in four states, argued “that as a party, may be as a government, they have been disappointing. But if you look at them in perspective, out of 29 states which went to polls in the last five years, the Congress won 12 of those states.”
The BJP, however, maintained that naming Rahul Gandhi as the PM candidate would not change the Congress’ slide at the national level. “If they make Rahul Gandhi their PM candidate, then everybody knows what happened to the Congress in the Assembly elections. The whole country knows that Rahul Gandhi could not click anywhere,” BJP leader Mr Yashwant Sinha said.
AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi has a degree from Cambridge University, but when it comes to politics, he has his backroom boys as advisors. From what he wears to what he talks, everything is scrutinised. This is the team, comprising Oxford scholars to former bureaucrats, that stands by Rahul as he takes on BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi in the forthcoming general elections.
An Oxford graduate, Kaushal Vidyarthee is currently the programme manager at Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana. As a student, he was vice-president at Oxford University Student Union. What caught Rahul's attention was avid blogger's interest in research, especially the one on incorporation of Dalits in the economy. (photo courtesy: vidyarthee.com) As part of the committee in-charge of electoral strategy, Dr. Mohan Gopal provides academic insight into party's decisions. The second ever all India president of the National Students Union of India (NSUI) Gopal plans training programmes for Congress Youth members.Koppula Raju, a 1981 batch IAS officer from Hyderabad who quit his job two months ago to join Rahul, is the chairman of the Congress cell on schedule castes. He travels extensively with Rahul, holding parleys with state unit leaders. He was one among the bureaucrats, who were kidnapped by the erstwhile People's War Group Naxalites, in Gurtedu, in East Godavari district, in 1987. Kanishka Singh, an investment banker, gave up his job at the World Bank to join politics in 2003, the year he was part of the team that helped Delhi CM Sheila Dixit's sweep in the assembly polls. Ever since Congress won Amethi seat in 2004, he has been a companion of Rahul. Singh, a computer engineer and MBA from Wharton, was in charge of door-to-door campaigning in the Saraini Assembly segment.K B Byju, former SPG sharp shooter who provided protection to the Gandhi family, quit forces three years ago to take a plunge into politics. He is the point person for Rahul's (in pic) outstation tours as he coordinates with security personnel and at times, he acts as media coordinator too. (Byju's pic was not available)Sachin Rao, a graduate of the Michigan Business School, manages matters concerning internal surveys and also Youth Congress. Alankar Sawai, a former banker, is now in-charge of documents and social media in the Rahul's team. Like Sachin Rao, Sawai also looks after Youth Congress affairs. (Alankar's pic wasn't available)Apart from this core team, Rahul has others providing him advice on many fronts. Congress leader Digvijay Singh is commonly known as Rahul's mentor or personal loud speaker. Lok Sabha MP from Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh, Meenakshi Natarajan, is often referred by Rahul as a politician who has made success despite not having pedigree. She lives by her rules as taking public transport. 
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