PM set to pass baton to Rahul

• To address important press conference today
• Expected to present his list of achievements
• May talk tough against his political rivals
• Likely to take volley of questions on graft

New Delhi: Aware that Rahul Gandhi’s pitch for PM candidate will reach a crescendo at the AICC Session on January 17, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, for the last time, will try to reach out to the people at the press conference convened by him on Friday.

Besides, batting for Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Ministerial candidate, he is expected to present his case and list out his achievements during the 10-year tenure of the UPA government.

Termed as the “weak” Prime Minister by his opponents and BJP in particular, Manmohan Singh is expected to talk tough by not sparing his political rivals for launching a tirade against him all these years.

All this while, the Prime Minister chose to be silent, letting his Cabinet colleagues to do all the talking, but with barely few months left for his tenure to get over, one would see Manmohan Singh, the politician, explaining his stand rather than the economist that loves to cull out figures of inclusive growth. The PM realises that after the AICC Session, the centrestage will be occupied by Rahul Gandhi.

He, therefore, chose to hold a presser, the fourth during his tenure, to set the record straight. He will be facing tough questions on corruption, policy paralysis of his government and the flak that he received all this, while for playing a second-fiddle to Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Ironically, Manmohan Singh, during his tenure, chose to remain mum with people terming him “Mauni Baba,” as he did not want to be seen as defying the diktat or inviting the wrath of the Congress High Command. Now, in his keenness to set the record straight, he is likely to come out of his shell and speak out his mind.

Though the Prime Minister is unlikely to offer his resignation, as was speculated in the media earlier, he may come out openly for Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Minister, leading the chorus for his donning the mantle of Congress Prime Ministerial candidate, ahead of the AICC Session.

After PM, himself, pitching for him, the others will follow suit that includes Cabinet Ministers, party leaders and different cells under the AICC, the Mahila Congress, NSUI and the Youth Congress, resulting in its culmination in the AICC Session.