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"Rahul Gandhi is the natural leader of the Congress. I hope he will lead the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Monday, on the sidelines of the Cabinet reshuffle.
Rahul was not seen at the event.
Singh said he considered Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), chief Nitish Kumar a secular leader and that there were no permanent friends or enemies in politics. "We have always sought support from like-minded people," Singh said. Kumar had on Sunday announced the JD(U) was breaking a 17-year alliance with the the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.
The message Singh was trying to send was not clear. But what was clear was that political considerations have begun to weigh heavy on the PM's mind as well: Today's Cabinbet reshuffle was a bare-bones balancing of caste and region.
Sonia, who was present at the ceremony, said nothing about Kumar.
