Is Rahul Gandhi ready to be the PM?

New Delhi:The birthday wishes sounded like a family jingle. Rahul Gandhi was now 41 and "mature enough to be prime minister" . Last Sunday, Digvijay Singh dropped a clear hint that the top job could now return to a Gandhi scion.
Seen as a leader working closely with the young Gandhi on his pet Uttar Pradesh project, Digvijay's comments made a case for restoring the 'legacy' to its rightful heir apparent who has served out the ritual of apprenticeship. Some saw it as a dig at the incumbent prime minister; others felt it was just old-fashioned , Congress-style sycophancy.
When Rahul Gandhi was being wished a prime ministerial birthday, the young leader himself was nowhere in sight. Wary of unsolicited wishes and shows of support, he was far away from the scene, perhaps unaware that a storm had broken out over a headline he has firmly discouraged for years.
In more normal times, the "Rahul-for- PM " call would hardly be unexceptional. But the timing is more than a little awry. Two years into what should have been a resurgent second term, the Congress-led UPA is listless. Warding off corruption scams, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seems besieged.
Ministerial rivalries appear uncontainable. Congress's electoral health in major states is critical and UPA II's contract with the middle class is cracking.
In these trying circumstances, it is not surprisingly that murmurs in Congress are growing louder as the crucial UP assembly elections approach next year and the bigger test of the 2014 national election looms ahead. Things can't go on like this is the refrain, as the party begins to subliminally search for a winner who will deliver the goods at the hustings.
Embarrassed by the suggestion that the PM's job was up for grabs, the Congress leadership swiftly put out a no-vacancy sign. Digvijay Singh scrambled to explain to the prime minister's office that he did not mean what he said. Congress said the PM will complete his full term.
"It is something he will decide, party high command will decide, people of India will decide," said party spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan.
With Rahul making not the smallest concession to the hosannas heaped on him, the PM debate has died out for now. Digvijay has moved to other issues and wellplaced sources assert that the Manohan-Sonia equation is working fine.
The party does make its point now and again, as it did over the Baba Ramdev episode, but the trust quotient is intact. It is, however, clear that Manmohan Singh is not going to change his measured style and while he is quite unruffled by the 'kaun banega PM' comments, he seems a little withdrawn.
However, the Cabinet reshuffle he has promised after consultations with Sonia will give him an opportunity to send out a business-like message. But the larger question still begs an answer. Whether now or later, is Rahul ready for the job his party sees him destined for? Is the rank and file of the party ready to accept his leadership?"You are never ready enough, but that is not the issue," a party insider points out.
The death of Indira Gandhi left Rajiv Gandhi with no choice. But those who meet Rahul regularly as part of his organizational assignment of reviving youth wings NSUI and Youth Congress dismiss any possibility of a midway takeover. "He has not evinced any interest in two years of UPA II. He is focused on what he is doing," says a Congress leader.