Every LoP is 'PM-in-waiting', says Manish Tewari; hails Rahul's maturity

Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari has asserted that every Leader of Opposition is a "Prime Minister in-waiting", as he hailed Rahul Gandhi for raising issues of the people and providing the "healing touch" to places such as Manipur.

Gandhi became the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha in late June after the Lok Sabha poll results in which the BJP fell short of a majority but got the mandate along with its NDA allies.

Asked about Gandhi taking on the mantle of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and whether he was being looked upon as a future prime minister, Tewari said, "Every Leader of Opposition is a Prime Minister in-waiting..."

"As far as Mr Gandhi is concerned, his speeches have been very well received across the length and breadth of the country. He has articulated issues which are close to the hearts and minds of the people and that is having a resonance across the country," Tewari said during his interaction with PTI editors at the news agency's headquarters here.

"The visits that he has undertaken as the Leader of Opposition, even to places which actually required the healing touch like Manipur, which unfortunately continues to simmer and remain divided almost a year after the unfortunate developments of the past one year, are really a testimony to his maturity," the Lok Sabha MP from Chandigarh said.

This is the first time after a gap of 10 years that there is a leader of opposition in the Lower House, as the Congress or other opposition parties did not have the 10 per cent members required to claim the post in the 16th and the 17th Lok Sabha.

Gandhi, who turned 54 in June, has been an MP for five terms and currently represents the Rae Bareli constituency previously held by his mother Sonia Gandhi.

Though he won from two constituencies, he resigned from the Wayanad seat in Kerala, from where his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest a bypoll.

Gandhi entered the Lok Sabha for the first time in 2004 following his victory from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.