Sonia backs third term for Manmohan; Rahul shies away

Anita Saluja New Delhi: Preferring to wait and watch, the Congress on Wednesday declared that its prime ministerial candidate would be announced only after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. As is the case with the BJP, the Congress, too, is not keen to declare any one as the party face, as of now, making the people to keep guessing whether it will be Manmohan Singh or Rahul Gandhi or any third person chosen by the latter. Here, the names of Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Defence Minister A K Antony are also doing the rounds. (Sonia Gandhi is reported to have supported PM's hint at having a third term). It was only on Tuesday that AICC Media Department Chairman Janardhan Dwivedi was gung- ho on the arrangement in the UPA government where Sonia Gandhi was calling the shots, while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was running the country. He had stated, "Relationship between the Congress president and the Prime Minister is unique, something, which has never been seen before and perhaps this should be the ideal model for future also." Dwivedi had complimented the two power-centres, contradicting the remarks of his adversary in the party, Digvijay Singh, who recently had criticised the same model, saying, "This model hasn't worked very well. There should not be two power-centres. Whoever is the Prime Minister must have authority to function, although Sonia has really never interfered." While Digvijay Singh, who is considered to be very close to Rahul Gandhi, has indicated that Rahul will be the Prime Ministerial candidate of the party, days later, Dwivedi complimented the model of two-power centres, giving the impression that Rahul, like his mother, may prefer to remain behind the scenes and nominate another leader to run the country. Meanwhile, the talk of a third term for Manmohan Singh gathers momentum Congress spokesperson P C Chacko, when grilled by media persons, refused to toe either of the lines. He merely stated that the decision on the prime ministerial candidate of the party will be taken only after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Sources stated that Rahul Gandhi, who has stated umpteen times that he is not hankering after the post, will take the call only after the Lok Sabha results. If the party succeeds in getting a comfortable majority, Rahul will take the plunge; otherwise it will be a third person, who will head the government. History is repeating itself. After the 2004 elections, Sonia Gandhi had refused to take up the responsibility, preferring to nominate Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister. Playing it safe, Rahul Gandhi will prefer that the Allies and the party join hands, after the 2014 elections and request him to become the Prime Minister. Sonia Gandhi, one would recall, had turned down the offer, even though the Left, RJD, NCP and LJP, had all insisted on her taking up the charge as the Prime Minister. She, instead, preferred to become the UPA Chairperson. The Congress, at this juncture, is not keen to reveal its cards of naming Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Minister, which undoubtedly will undermine the position of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, under whose leadership the party will go to the polls. The Congress, for obvious reasons, will showcase the achievements of Manmohan Singh in the 2014 elections and decide the successor only after the results are declared. Moreover, being the last hope of the Congress, the party is reluctant to name him as the prime ministerial candidate before the elections. In case of an electoral drubbing, more than the Congress, it will be Rahul, who will be the loser as he would lose the golden opportunity of being projected as the prime ministerial candidate ever again as is the case with NDA Working Chairperson L K Advani.