Ready to work under Rahul Gandhi, says Manmohan; has he given up?

, Sept 7: Prime Minister

said on Saturday that he would like to see

vice-president

as the prime minister after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Singh said this while returning from the G20 Summit in St Petersburg in Russia.

The economist-politician, who has been leading the nation for almost a decade now, said he always believed that Rahul Gandhi would be an ideal choice for the top post after the next general elections and he would be happy to work for the Congress party under the latter's leadership. Singh will turn 81 on September 26.

The PM reasserted what he said in the past, i.e., Rahul Gandhi is fit to be PM

The Indian prime minister, who has been facing wide-ranging criticism over a slew of corruption charges against his government, also said that he was not ready to meet his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York later this month, saying Pakistan did not do enough to bring those responsible for the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks to justice.

A tired-looking Singh said he tried his best to answer the Opposition's volley of questions related to the scams. The Opposition attacked him prior to his departure for Russia and even accused him as a thief over the coal scam, leaving the PM hurt. He retailiated against the Opposition on the first day in the

Rajya Sabha but adopted a more moderate stand on the second day, when he said his government would do everything possible to trace the missing coal files.

About the G20 Summit, he said it was a successful one since the developed economies understood India's concern that the developing economies were suffering the consequences of their monetary policies in an adverse way.

However, is the PM's reasserting Rahul Gandhi as the future prime minister indicating that he has given up in the face of increasing challenges? The prime minister had also spoken about his thought on Rahul Gandhi earlier as well but the latter always sounded a reluctant leader. Does Singh's latest remark signal the end of the road for him?

OneIndia News