Is India ripe for Rahul Rajya?

I am not sure if Bangladeshis are avid Rahul Gandhi watchers. But I won't be surprised if they do keep an eye on him. Rahul is surely worth watching because he is a potential prime minister of India — a nuclear power encircling Bangladesh on the east, north and west. And the ruler of India is bound to cast his shadow on neighbours.

Rajiv Gandhi became the PM when he was 40. Rahul, who turned 41 this month, is not even a cabinet minister or chief minister of a state. But his birthday was marked by renewed clamour to hand over the reins of the world's largest democracy to the fourth generation heir of the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty. I am not privy to prime minister Manmohan Singh's gut reaction to the latest outburst of Rahul loyalists. But Dr Singh did say publicly that he will be very happy to make way for Rahul if the Congress Party makes up its mind.

Rahul loyalists — call them chamchas if you like — have two demands. They want him to become the prime minister. And they want him to get married. They are alarmed that Rahul's political and biological clock is ticking away.

Female attention makes Rahul blush. I have seen it for myself. But he is a big magnet for women whether he likes it or not. Today the print and electronic media is full of women. A journalist in her 30s told me that Rahul has the looks to swoon over and a bloodline to die for!

He is now being advised to take a leaf out of Edward Miliband's book. Ed, the Leader of Opposition in Britain is exactly of Rahul's age. Ed and Rahul are in fact pretty good friends. Not too long ago Rahul hosted him in India. And Ed has recently married his significant half Justin Thornton who has borne him two children.

Rahul's admirers say it is high time he too settled down with a woman of his choice. But he is proving to be a nightmare for self-appointed matchmakers, while the two most important women in his life, mother Sonia and sister Priyanka, are blissfully unperturbed by his bachelorhood.

Congress leader Digvijay Singh, who is spearheading the make-Rahul-PM-right-now onslaught, says that Rahul is mature enough to lead India after serving the party as general secretary — the second most powerful organisational post after the presidency which is held by Sonia — since 2007. Officially, he is in charge of rejuvenating the Youth Congress and National Students Union of India. But everyone knows that nothing is beyond his purview. And he seems to have no rivals in the party.

India's first family is quite secretive. So nobody knows if Rahul is keen to become the PM or not. It is impossible for the media to question him about his plans or ambition. So while there is a lot of speculation nobody is privy to Rahul's or the inscrutable Gandhi family's private thoughts on one of the hottest topics of discussion in India.

Apparently, Rahul is devoting all his time and energy to Uttar Pradesh which goes to the polls next year. A crucial battle will be fought in the politically significant province ahead of the national elections in 2014. Rahul's so-called magic did not work in Bihar. Now his charisma will be put to test in UP.

Can he wrest UP from the Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party and the Bhartiya Janata Party which have kept the Congress at bay in successive elections? If he is successful in UP — and the Congress Party-led United Progressive Alliance romps home in 2014 — then Rahul is almost certain to be crowned as PM.

At present the government is mired in corruption scandals tarnishing the image of the Congress. Compounding the party's misery is the administrative paralysis and infighting among powerful ministers. Dr. Singh still has a very clean image but he is seen as Sonia's puppet who can't purge the government of black sheep. Governance is in a state of limbo. So a victory in UP next year will be like elixir energising the party for the parliamentary battle. And Rahul will inevitably lead the charge if he conquers UP. A Congress victory in UP will more or less ensure a third term for the UPA.

Rahul has many detractors though. Obviously, they belong to other parties. Communist ideologue Ashok Mitra, known for his sarcasm, says Rahul's only credential is his pedigree. He is also very dismissive of Rahul's party, branding it a "personality cult — only with no personality and a dying cult"!

Rahul may or not be terribly keen to become PM now or in the future. But Harvard-educated Subramanian Swamy has come down hard on Digvijay Singh for portraying Dr. Singh as a regent of the Maino dynasty keeping the seat warm for Rahul.

Rahul, says Swamy, is legally barred from becoming the PM because of his "Italian citizenship". According to Swamy, Rahul inherited his mother's Italian citizenship which he is yet to renounce!

Healthy democracies invariably generate a lot of nonsense round the year – Swamy's revelation is proof of that!

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S. N. M. Abdi is a consulting editor, writer, columnist and broadcaster from India.