AS the Congress party plays down Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's bypass surgery, speculations are rife on who would be the Congress' prime ministerial candidate for the coming election, due by May 2009. Close on the heels of an Obama vs. McCain contest in the US, India is beginning to envisage a similar spar between 38-year-old Rahul Gandhi of the Indian National Congress as a possible prime ministerial candidate as opposed to the octogenarian leader, L K Advani of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This comes after the country saw a revival of the young brigade in politics after another politician, Omar Abdullah, became the youngest chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir recently. “The man, in whose blood runs politics and leadership skills, who is by lineage a member of the longest ruling dynastic family in India, and whose mother is currently presiding over the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi has more than one reason to lead the future of Indian politics,” said Ahsan Usmani, an Indian businessman in Makkah. They may appear to be putting the cart before the horse, but Congress leaders have come out in the open touting Gandhi as the next prime minister, if the party is voted back to power. However, some Indian expatriates residing in the Kingdom are not very certain that Gandhi would make a successful prime minister. “He is not a mature politician. Sonia Gandhi should not risk making him the PM. If there has to be any change at all at the top slot, Pranab Mukherjee should be backed for the post as he is the senior most politician in the party,” said Mohammad Faheem Siddiqui, Indian businessman and leader of the Indian National League (INL). Many view the move as a strategic shift by the Congress party to win the elections. “The fact that in India, a whopping 65 percent of the population are under age of 38, has led some Congress leaders to believe that Gandhi is the USP of their party,” said Shamim Ashraf from Makkah, who keeps a keen eye on the political developments in his home country. Ashraf's statement can be viewed in the light of a number of young politicians like Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jatin Prasad, Sachin Pilot, Milind Deora and Sandeep Dikshit, standing rock solid behind Gandhi for the prime ministership. Indian Muslims, however, say they are not thrilled when it comes to the question of the Congress party serving the minorities. “Every wrong done to the Muslim community happened during Congress rule,” said INL leader Siddiqui. “Muslims had expectations from Rahul's father, Rajiv Gandhi too, but it was under his regime that the gates of the Babri Mosque were unlocked for the Hindu worshippers. The shilanyas (foundation stone) for the temple was also laid during his tenure,” he said. Commenting on the timing of such a speculation, Arshad Khan, who runs a construction company in Riyadh, and was a former student leader in the Aligarh Muslim University, said that Gandhi is being projected as the Indian Obama with a fresh vision to counter the opposition parties' attempts to rake up issues like price rise and terrorism. But, the question is: Is Gandhi ready to take on the mantle of the country, at a time when terrorism and inflationary concerns are tormenting the nation and ties between India and Pakistan are at their lowest ebb? Described as the “Third Pole” by the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) after Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Gandhi is a Cambridge-educated business consultant who entered the Indian political scene after successfully contesting the parliamentary elections in 2004. “Since then he has been making news by visiting the interiors of the country, establishing personal rapport with the masses, particularly in his constituency of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh,” said Khan. Siddiqui said that when the Congress won three assembly seats out of five in the recently held elections, party leaders were quick to give the credit to Gandhi for their electoral success. In 2007, Gandhi was inducted as the General Secretary of the AICC, and was made in-charge of the National Students Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Congress. He then took charge of several committees of the party, including the Future Challenges Committee, the Publicity Committee, and the Manifesto Committee. “That Rajnath Singh, BJP President, called Gandhi a “bachcha” (kid), and Mayawati of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) accused him of cleaning himself with soap after meeting people from the lower castes, goes to prove his rising clout in politics,” said Dr. Sarfaraz Ahmad, who works at the Army Forces Hospital in Jubail. “Rahul might like to be the Obama of India. However, Indian politics is far different from that of the US. He is rising like a star; a next generation politician, who works hard, talks about the rights of the poor, and represents the young face of India. Though he has several things going for him, he still may have many miles to go,” said Saud Al-Taher, a young professional from Gulbarga, Andhra Pradesh, working at the Bin Laden Company in Jeddah. Meanwhile, the question that remains topmost in every expatriate's mind is whether he would do anything for the largest minority of the country - the Indian Muslim community. Sound similar to the expectations built around Obama as regards his Middle East policy? You bet!
