On Board Air India One:
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said he has invited Rahul Gandhi to be a minister several times and hopes the Congress general secretary will give it a serious thought now.
"I have always been of the view that Rahul Gandhi should play a more proactive role. I have invited him to be part of the cabinet many times... I hope this time he will consider it very seriously," he told reporters on board his plane, Air India One, on his way back to Delhi after his four-day trip to Tehran.
But the PM would not divulge when "this time" would be. Asked when he would reshuffle his cabinet next, Dr Singh would only say, "When there is a reshuffle, you will hear about it."
He hastened to add that he had "no inside knowledge" of what Mr Gandhi plans to do. Rahul Gandhi had said only last month that the timing of when he starts playing a bigger role in the party and in the government depends on his "two bosses" - his mother,
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Dr Singh.
After voting in the July Presidential elections, Mr Gandhi had promised to play a "more pro-active role in the party and the government," adding that, "the decision has been taken; the timing is up to the leadership." A few days before Mr Gandhi said that, his mother had told NDTV that "Rahul alone" would have to decide whether to take on that bigger role.
Recently, senior Congress leaders like Salman Khurshid and Digvijaya Singh have said the party is waiting for Mr Gandhi to officially accept a larger role.
Mr Khurshid had controversially said, "We have only seen cameos of his (Rahul Gandhi's) thought and ideas like democratizing elections to the Youth Congress. But he has not weaved all of this into a grand announcement. This is a period of waiting."
While there has been speculation that the next Cabinet reshuffle will have a Rahul announcement, there is also the argument within the Congress that it is not necessary that a being a minister is what Mr Gandhi will choose. Digvijaya Singh had stressed recently that if it were up to him, he would like to see Mr Gandhi adopting a bigger role "within the organisation."
A position as Working President for him has also been a point of speculation both within and outside the party, but this could undermine the Prime Minister. Mr Singh also said that though Sonia Gandhi "is not keeping too well," there is no question of her being replaced as President. He said she will lead the campaign for the Congress for 2014.
"I have always been of the view that Rahul Gandhi should play a more proactive role. I have invited him to be part of the cabinet many times... I hope this time he will consider it very seriously," he told reporters on board his plane, Air India One, on his way back to Delhi after his four-day trip to Tehran.
But the PM would not divulge when "this time" would be. Asked when he would reshuffle his cabinet next, Dr Singh would only say, "When there is a reshuffle, you will hear about it."
He hastened to add that he had "no inside knowledge" of what Mr Gandhi plans to do. Rahul Gandhi had said only last month that the timing of when he starts playing a bigger role in the party and in the government depends on his "two bosses" - his mother,
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Dr Singh.
After voting in the July Presidential elections, Mr Gandhi had promised to play a "more pro-active role in the party and the government," adding that, "the decision has been taken; the timing is up to the leadership." A few days before Mr Gandhi said that, his mother had told NDTV that "Rahul alone" would have to decide whether to take on that bigger role.
Recently, senior Congress leaders like Salman Khurshid and Digvijaya Singh have said the party is waiting for Mr Gandhi to officially accept a larger role.
Mr Khurshid had controversially said, "We have only seen cameos of his (Rahul Gandhi's) thought and ideas like democratizing elections to the Youth Congress. But he has not weaved all of this into a grand announcement. This is a period of waiting."
While there has been speculation that the next Cabinet reshuffle will have a Rahul announcement, there is also the argument within the Congress that it is not necessary that a being a minister is what Mr Gandhi will choose. Digvijaya Singh had stressed recently that if it were up to him, he would like to see Mr Gandhi adopting a bigger role "within the organisation."
A position as Working President for him has also been a point of speculation both within and outside the party, but this could undermine the Prime Minister. Mr Singh also said that though Sonia Gandhi "is not keeping too well," there is no question of her being replaced as President. He said she will lead the campaign for the Congress for 2014.
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