Manmohan open to Rahul Gandhi succession
India's embattled prime minister indicated Wednesday he was open to the idea of heir-apparent Rahul Gandhi succeeding him, even as he rejected criticism that he had become a "lame-duck" leader.
Asked about statements from senior members of his Congress party that the time may have come for 41-year-old Gandhi, the scion of India's Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, premier Manmohan Singh said he had no objection in principle.
"Personally, if you ask me, the general proposition that younger people should take over, I think, is the right sentiment," the 78-year-old told newspaper editors and the Press Trust of India, while indicating he had no plans to resign.
"Whenever the party makes up its mind, I will be very happy to step down, but so long as I am here, I have a job to do," he said.
Speaking to editors in an effort to revive his image, Singh also promised a cabinet reshuffle to infuse fresh energy into his administration, which has been hit by a series of high-profile corruption scandals.
The reshuffle was a "work in progress", he said.
Gandhi is widely viewed as a leader-in-waiting, but has so far avoided roles in the cabinet, preferring instead to focus on building up a youth movement of the ruling Congress party.
The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has ruled India for most of the post-independence era, providing three prime ministers. Rahul is the son of the current Congress president, Italian-born Sonia Gandhi.
Speculation that he might be poised to replace Singh has mounted in recent months, but the unmarried partly US-educated politician -- known as the "prince" to his detractors -- has also made some missteps.
In April, he wrongly accused police in India's most populous state Uttar Pradesh of the mass killings of farmers who had been demonstrating for greater compensation for land sales to the state.
A month earlier, a leaked US diplomatic cable from 2007 quoted an insider in the Congress party commenting on Rahul's tendency to commit gaffes, describing him as a "neophyte who does not have what it takes to become prime minister."
But his name has again been mentioned as the saviour of Congress as Singh battles corruption scandals and a widespread perception of policy drift in New Delhi.
Singh hit back at his critics, saying charges that he was an ineffectual, lame-duck premier were just "clever propaganda by the opposition".
Aides to the former finance minister, renowned as a man of integrity in India's notoriously corrupt politics, had billed Wednesday's interview as a way of reviving his fortunes.
But there were no new announcements and Singh appeared to have again been on the defensive -- a similar pattern to his last outing in front of senior Indian news editors in February.
Singh's leadership has been questioned as doubts grow about the Indian economy, with inflation rising again towards an annual 10 percent.
Foreign direct investment has fallen for the past two years and the Mumbai stock exchange is the worst performing market in Asia, down about 14 percent since the start of the year.
On Twitter, the PM's detractors have begun a îFindingManmohan campaign, pointing out his absence at critical moments when the government has failed to communicate.
"The prime minister today tried to argue against his failures. He has completely failed to control rising prices and check corruption," said the president of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, Nitin Gadkari.
Wednesday's interview came after Home Minister P. Chidambaram acknowledged this week that the public wanted to see and hear more of the media-shy premier.
"Lots of people would like the prime minister to step up to the plate, so as to say, and speak more often. But that is the style of the person," he told the NDTV channel.