If Congress forms government, Rahul Gandhi will be PM: Chidambaram at Davos

New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi will be Prime Minister if the Congress is called to form the government, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today, days after party president Sonia Gandhi asserted that her son would not be declared the party's candidate for the top job ahead of the national polls. (Amid Congress roar for Rahul-as-PM, decision is final, says Sonia Gandhi)

"The Congress party has made it clear that Rahul Gandhi will be the PM if called to form the government. Whether the Congress is called or not will depend on election outcome," Mr Chidambaram said while speaking on the sidelines of the 44th World Economic Forum in Davos. (Davos 2014: full coverage)

At a massive Congress conclave in Delhi last weekend, Sonia Gandhi had rejected calls by top Congress leaders to name Rahul Gandhi the party's presumptive prime minister, and, in the face of a loud clamour among party workers, said her decision was "final." Mr Gandhi was made the party's campaign-in-charge instead.

Mr Chidambaram predicted that the likely outcome of the national election, due by May, was that no party will have a clear majority.

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Asked if he could be a Prime Ministerial candidate, Mr Chidambaram replied, "I am certain if the Congress is called to form the government, Rahul Gandhi will be PM. Rahul had enough fire in the belly at the AICC (All India Congress Committee) session.

At the conclave, Rahul Gandhi delivered a fiery speech slamming BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and motivated his party cadre ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. (Watch his speech here)

At the conclave, Rahul Gandhi delivered a fiery speech slamming BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and motivated his party cadre ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Mr Modi has said the Congress didn't name Mr Gandhi its presumptive PM for the 2014 general elections despite much clamour within the party as it is "staring at certain defeat." 

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Speaking about AAP, Mr Chidambaram said the party's emergence "is an urban rejection of mainstream parties like the Congress and the BJP in Delhi" and added that "it is too early to say if its success could be replicated at the national level."