Rahul good enough to be PM, but not in race: Priyanka Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi is not in politics to become prime minister, his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said in Rae Bareli on Sunday.

Replying to a pointed question, she said Manmohan Singh is “extremely good” as prime minister and there is no question of change at the moment.

Priyanka, who is on a five-day tour of Amethi and Rae Bareli to campaign for Congress candidates, also backed home minister P Chidambaram, saying she felt “sad” about the attacks on him in the 2G spectrum case when he has an “onerous and huge” responsibility towards the people of the country.

“For Rahul, the post of party president or prime minister is not important. For him, his mission of development is more important,” Priyanka asserted. “You see the political career of Rahul Gandhi that whether he should be the party president or prime minister, but neither he nor we see it that way... he is more concerned about what he is doing (for the people),” she said.

“I think my brother is good enough for it already but I don't think that should be the central point of his political career and I think we have an extremely good prime minister. We are fortunate to have a person who is honest and works well and I don’t think this question (of replacing him) arises at the moment,” Priyanka told reporters.

“He is more concerned about his work than worrying about how the election results would impact his reputation. It’s his work that matters. He is not concerned about his reputation. Only cowards don’t lead from the front,” she said.