New Delhi: It is no secret that he is being groomed for the top job, may be not now, but certainly in the future.
One way or the other, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has emerged during this election campaign as the lynchpin around whom the Congress party is slowly beginning to revolve.
On Tuesday, in a landmark press conference, it was evident to all that Rahul has crossed the threshold from being a dedicated worker of the party to its leader-in-waiting.
If in 2004, Sonia Gandhi was the face of the Congress campaign, 2009 belongs to her son, the general secretary, who says that he's not ready to be Prime Minister - not yet at least.
Crisscrossing the length and breadth of the country, the 38-year-old has emerged as the party's chief campaigner, the driving force behind its new politics, like the decision to go it alone in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, or the emphasis on poverty and development even in Modi's Gujarat.
His statements are now a baramoter to read party strategy.
So everybody stood and up and listened when the young leader, who said about the Left that they were an old party with old ideas, just days ago.
But then, now, Rahul seemed to be clearly reaching out to them.
"Despite ideological differences, we have a lot of common ground with the Left," said Rahul.
He cleverly praised Bihar Chief Minister and JD-U leader Nitish Kumar as well, forcing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to respond.
"Mr Nitish has the right ideas," said Rahul.
It is evident that 2009 has clearly marked the evolution of Rahul, the politician, the reserved, reticent young man, who contested his first election in 2004, and was ripped apart by his critics in 2007 for some statements regarding division of Pakistan and Babri on the UP campaign trail.
He has now clearly settled into his own niche - confident, upbeat, more accessible and as always, unbothered by criticism.
The BJP, for example, says Rahul's visits to the rural hinterland are poverty tourism. But whether it was his visit with David Milliband to Amethi, or his spending the night at the homes of poor Dalit villagers, or his by now, famous reference to Kalavati, Rahul Gandhi is clearly charting his own individual course.