DHAKA: The path is clear for India’s Gandhi family scion Rahul to become the Congress party’s next prime ministerial candidate, following premier Manmohan Singh’s announcement on Friday that he will step down before this year’s polls.

Rahul, 43, is already number two in the Congress, behind his mother Sonia who is party president, and he is chief strategist for the national elections.

The party originally had no plans to declare its candidate for the top job before voting, but newspapers are now speculating that Rahul will be promoted as early as a meeting on January 17, reports The Straits Times.

Congress faces a resurgent opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), running a successful campaign centreed on its candidate Narendra Modi.

BDST: 1801 HRS, JAN 03, 2014
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor