Rahul Gandhi declines Cabinet post - PM

INDIA: Rahul Gandhi, the scion of India’s Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, once again snubbed an offer to join the cabinet, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh revealed on Sunday.

The 42-year-old Gandhi, whose father, grandmother and great-father all served as prime ministers, had decided to remain in his post as a secretary general of the main ruling Congress party, Singh said as he unveiled a cabinet reshuffle.

“I wanted Rahul Gandhi in government, but he wants to strengthen the party,” Singh told reporters after a ceremony at the presidential palace for the swearing-in of seven new cabinet ministers. Gandhi has been under sustained pressure from party loyalists to take a higher public profile, including from his mother Sonia who is the head of Congress. But his reputation suffered a setback in March when he headed Congress’s dismal campaign in elections for the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Singh has asked Rahul Gandhi to join his cabinet on several occasions since his re-election in 2009.

AFP