Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh has said that it is time Rahul Gandhi became the prime minister. "It is for Rahul Gandhi to take a call on the matter. He is now a mature person with sound political instincts and can become the prime minister," Singh is reported to have said on the Nehru-Gandhi scion's 41st birthday.

Singh, who is believed to be close to Rahul Gandhi, has merely reiterated the longstanding view of a section of the Congress party. Especially now, at a time when the Congress-led UPA government's credibility has hit rock bottom, many in the party believe that it will be against the party's interests to let prime minister Manmohan Singh complete his second term. This section further believes that Rahul Gandhi is the best bet for restoring the party's public perception.

However, Singh's reiteration comes at a time when the Congress-led government at the centre is beset by charges of corruption as well as incompetence in containing galloping inflation. Again, while the party has been priming Rahul Gandhi for the top job, he has remained conspicuously silent on the twin agitations of Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev that have captured the imagination of the urban middle-class and large swathes of the voting classes respectively. While he made it a point to be seen as a comforter of the dalits of the Mayawati-ruled Uttar Pradesh, for example, he did not seem to care for the protest fasts held at a sprinting distance from his home.

Since Rahul Gandhi has failed to seize the opportunity to occupy the political space created by the anti-corruption campaigns led by civil society, is he likely to capture the imagination of the voters if he ensconces himself in the prime minister's chair? Hence the question: is this really the right time for Rahul Gandhi to replace Manmohan Singh and become prime minister?