(Image source from: Congress' poll manifesto hails Rahul Gandhi as PM})

Ahead of the difficult 2014 Lok Sabha elections, one would have expected the grand old party of India, Congress to take up a more fiery stand and release a more dynamic manifesto. However, the ageing party let down the hopefuls with its highly predictable, lame manifesto that included nothing new but all the talks on anti-corruption, inclusion, uplift of the weaker sections, scrapping several forms of tax, an 8% growth rate and so on. And above all things, it made amply clear that if the party is voted back to power, Rahul Gandhi would be made the prime minister.

Back in 2009, a smiling Sonia had clearly hinted a second term for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while releasing the party manifesto. Rahul Gandhi was nowhere to be seen on the cover page then. Cut to the present, and the Congress president left no ambiguity on the leadership issue after she unveiled the poll manifesto that clear stars the crown prince Rahul as the new king of the Congress.

And quite so. Afterall it's Rahul now who is virtually calling shots in the party and mother Sonia is leaving no stone unturned to endorse her son's leadership abilities.

Rahul's entry into big league politics now marks a generational leap in the 128-year-old party. He has been endowed with key organizational responsibilities, one of them being bringing young leaders to the fore.

Perceiving the winds of change within the party, Singh had bailed out himself from a third term for himself in January this year.

During the release of the manifesto, when Sonia was asked who would be her party's prime ministerial candidate, Sonia said that "Rahul has already answered the question" and "the party's elected MPs will decide on the issue."

The Congress, which had all plans to announce Rahul's PM candidature in January, bailed out of doing so at the last-minute to avoid the 2014 polls becoming a clash between Rahul and BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, who has his eyes on the top executive job.

Inside Image Sources: Daily Mail

AW: Suchorita Choudhury