‘Absolutely ready’ to be PM candidate

BERKELEY — Choosing foreign soil, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has declared he is “absolutely ready” to be the party’s prime ministerial candidate for the 2019 general elections.

However, he made it clear that the decision has to be finally approved by the party.

“I am absolutely ready to do that,” Rahul, who is widely tipped to succeed his mother Sonia as party president, said when he was asked during his talk on Monday night at a university here if he was ready to be the prime ministerial candidate of the Congress for the next Lok Sabha elections.

This is for the first time the Gandhi scion has publicly affirmed his readiness to be the Congress choice for the top post.

In reply to the question about Congress’ prime ministerial choice, Rahul said it was not fair on his part to go public with that because the party has to approve it. “...the way our party works. We have an internal system where we elect certain delegates who make that decision. We have an organisational election process that decides, and the process is currently ongoing.

“For me to say that the decision is mine would not be fair. That is the decision the Congress party has to make,” the 47-year-old said. Probed further by the moderator if he was open to the idea, Rahul nodded his head in affirmation and said: “Yeah, sure.” —