I would welcome Rahul’s entry into government: PM

Amid demands in the Congress for a “larger role” for Rahul Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the young leader’s entry into the Cabinet will be a welcome development.

“I have always said I would welcome Rahul’s entry into Government,” Singh told presspersons here.

The Prime Minister’s remarks came at a time when indications are emerging that Rahul could play a role bigger than what he was doing so far as the in-charge General Secretary of the NSUI and Youth Congress affairs sooner than later.

A section in the Congress feels that Rahul could discharge a larger responsibility in the party if he becomes General Secretary in charge of the organisation, and at the same time also become a Cabinet Minister to start with in the Government before he is projected as the party’s Prime Ministerial candidate in the next general elections.

Last month, Rahul himself had said he would play a more proactive role in the Congress and the Government, the timing of which would be decided by his two bosses — Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister.

There are instances of leaders discharging responsibilities in the Congress organisation as well as in the Government simultaneously.

Two of the AICC General Secretaries — Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mukul Wasnik — are Cabinet Ministers.

There have also been talks of the possibility of Rahul becoming Vice-President or working president in the party, a contention downplayed by Congress managers who pointed out that such an eventuality happens only when the party chief is not active, which is not the reality in the case of Sonia Gandhi.

Sources in the party have been maintaining that a large-scale reshuffle in the Government may be a reality after the monsoon session in September.

Asked about possibility of a Cabinet reshuffle next month, the Prime Minister said, “You will come to know when it happens.”

Singh made the remark at the Rashtrapati Bhawan where he had gone to attend the swearing in ceremony of Hamid Ansari as Vice-President.

Congress lawmakers and leaders have long been demanding a Cabinet post for the Gandhi scion, although Rahul himself has shied away from all the hype surrounding it.

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