INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
party emerged as the single largest party in the 2019 national election.At a gathering of prominent citizens in Bengaluru, an outreach
organised in the last few days of campaigning for the May 12 elections in Karnataka, the Congress President was asked whether he could
become Prime Minister."I am pretty convinced that Mr Modi is not going to be prime minister
He knows it," he said in reply to a question."Will you become prime minister" the questioner asked."Well it depends it depends on how well
If the Congress party is the biggest party, yes," he responded.If the Congress acted as a "platform" (with other parties in a coalition),
the BJP didn't stand a chance of winning the elections, he said, stressing on opposition unity."It is highly unlikely that BJP will form the
next government, and the second part is that it is close to impossible that Modi will be the next prime minister," he added.The comments
serve to upfront the "Prime Minister Narendra Modi vs Rahul Gandhi" narrative at a time regional parties like the Telangana Rashtra Samiti
and the Trinamool Congress are keeping talk of a third front buzzing.Even the Samajwadi Party and Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party
are seen to be reluctant to accept Rahul Gandhi's leadership.The Karnataka election is the first in a series of markers on the way to the
Karnataka is one of the last major state under Congress rule, and Rahul Gandhi desperately needs a win to counter an aggressive BJP.This is
not the first such declaration from Rahul Gandhi, seen for years as a reluctant politician even though he contested three parliamentary
elections and was his mother Sonia Gandhi's deputy in the party for five years.In September last year, speaking to students at UC Berkeley,
the 47-year-old had said he was "absolutely ready" to be the party's prime ministerial candidate for the 2019 general elections.Three months
later, he took over as Congress President, a post Sonia Gandhi held for 19 years.Today's comment, placed strategically in the final days of
campaigning in Karnataka, is seen as a big message that the party and its chief are clear about the prime ministerial choice, no hesitation,
