As the year is drawing to a close, there is a sudden buzz in the national capital that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may announce resignation and make for the scion of the Congress’ first family, Rahul Gandhi, to take over the reins of the government, just a few months before the general elections.
The political circles in Delhi were on Tuesday swarmed by the speculation about Singh’s imminent exit.
The reason for this sudden buzz is the scheduled press conference of the Prime Minister at 11 am on January 3. This is the first time in nearly five years that the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be addressing a formal press conference.
Singh is never known to hold media conferences, barring an interactive meeting with the editors of select organisations once in the past.
However, in a rare clarification, the Prime Minister's Office dismissed speculation about his resignation.
According to a news report published in a leading English daily “Telegraph”, Singh is likely to announce his decision of not seeking a third term at the press conference.
In a major shift from his earlier stand of keeping the option of seeking a third term open, Singh has reportedly conveyed to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi that he wants to step aside.
While most Congress leaders, including finance minister P Chidambaram, have been pitching for Rahul Gandhi to be declared as the party's PM nominee ahead of the General Elections, a formal decision in this regard is expected at the AICC session on January 17.
At the press conference, which is likely to set the tone for the Congress election agenda in 2014, Singh is likely to clear air about accusations by the political rivals of not having done enough in his two terms and talk about his works in the past 10 years. He might also officially opt himself out of the prime minister's race after the 2014 elections.
