Rahul Gandhi will make a great prime minister, says Jitendra Singh

With Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi back in action after a 56-day sabbatical, Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, an aide, tells Subodh Ghildiyal and Mahendra Singh that the Gandhi scion will make a successful PM and that he is not against the Congress old guard.

With his image as a 'reluctant politician', will Rahul Gandhi be Congress's PM candidate in future?


He has never been a reluctant politician. He is very courageous. He is not scared even for his life. He will make a great prime minister. You need a PM who feels for the poor like Rahul. He wants to take India forward, not create fight between communities or indulge in vote banks.

His critics say he has no connect with grassroots.

Rahul's first travel started from Odisha after he became Congress general secretary in-charge of Youth Congress. He has been to the remotest of areas where even local MLAs and MPs don't go. He knows the pulse of the people, feels for the poor. He is not a power-hungry person who thinks he will travel to this place as he wants to become PM or MP. That is the difference between Rahul and other politicians like Narendra Modi.

He appears more engaged post-sabbatical.

But he has been engaged all through. Whenever there has been injustice to poor, he has been there. That's his mindset. Of course, he always had in mind the deficiencies in Congress and the need for improvement. The best time to make changes is when you are in the opposition. So, you see new appointments in the party. Land acquisition bill is very close to his heart (so the protests).

But there's a feeling of an overdrive — Kedarnath visit, Parliament speeches and rally.

There is no overdrive. Whenever there was an issue, like in Bhatta Parsaul, or where poor were affected, he has been there for them. I don't see any change.

Is there a belated realization that Rahul has to be active in Parliament?

During UPA, he was trying to push MGNREGA or tribals bill or land bill. He was in-charge of front outfits and trying to make changes. He could give direction to Congress and suggest to government on important issues. That reduced the margin of participation. But the result was that he got the land bill passed. In Niyamgiri, he settled the battle in favour of tribals. When you are in power, there are other channels to add value.