WikiLeaks: Pranab Mukherjee, A K Antony, Rahul Gandhi are all PM candidates

NEW DELHI: Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh underwent a heart bypass in 2009, the buzz in US diplomatic circles was about a potential successor after the general elections, given the incumbent's health issues. " (Pranab) Mukherjee and defence minister (A K) Antony are obvious candidates should Manmohan Singh not be up for the job. Rahul Gandhi's chances will increase if the Congress does better than expected in the April-May poll," a cable released by WikiLeaks said.

Mukherjee has served as acting prime minister on previous occasions during this government's tenure when the PM was out of the country.

The cable went further to note, "there are no constitutionally mandated rules of succession in India in the event of a prime minister's death in office. The Constitution merely requires that the majority party in Parliament select a leader and notify the President of the selection".

Three prime ministers have died in office in India - Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi. The succession process followed after their deaths offers some precedence for what is likely to happen.

Although an academic exercise, the cable said in the past, Congress chose the seniormost Cabinet minister as acting prime minister while the party leadership met and negotiated to select a new prime minister. The time taken for this process varied from a day or two (when Rajiv Gandhi was selected to succeed his mother) to more than a month (when Indira Gandhi was chosen to succeed Lal Bahadur Shastri.)

The cable also followed up Singh's operation schedule. "Sources and government officials confirmed that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will undergo heart bypass surgery tomorrow as one or more of his arteries have blockages. He was admitted to hospital tonight," it said. Minister of state for external affairs "confirmed this and MEA joint secretary Gaitri Kumar and Congress party leader Digvijay Singh confirmed this to PolCouns (political counselor)", the cable said.