Rahul Gandhi competent to be PM: Digvijay

Singh said it was difficult to say who would be the Prime Minister “but in my opinion Rahul Gandhi has all the competence which a Prime Minister should have.”

He said not only HRD Minister Arjun Singh but DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi too had expressed his opinion on the issue. “If a seasoned leader sees talent in some person, it should not be viewed as sycophancy”, Singh said.

His remarks came in the wake of HRD Minister Arjun Singh’s projection of Rahul Gandhi as the party’s prime ministerial candidate and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee seconding such a view, after which the Congress high command made it clear that there was no room for sycophancy.

The AICC general secretary said as party in-charge of Uttar Pradesh he has had the opportunity to closely work with Rahul Gandhi and “on the basis of this I can say that he has immense potential for public work.”

Besides, the party MP from Amethi “is extremely sensitive with regard to Dalits and poor people”, the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister said and added he himself was “highly influenced by the younger Gandhi’s “energetic personality”.

Without naming anybody, Digvijay Singh said there are some people who, for political benefits, were trying to misguide tribals but they won’t succeed.

Asked about Dalits distance from Congress, Singh admitted that they drifted because of the organisational weaknesses but claimed things were changing due to Congress-led UPA government’s policies.