Analysis: Gandhi scion yet to prosper in heat of Indian politics

The handsome 41-year-old great-grandson of India's first prime minister has long been tipped as a future leader of the country, and incumbent Manmohan Singh, 78, said this week the party had not discussed him stepping down before his term ends in 2014 - but that he was ready for it.

"I don't mind young leaders taking over," Mr Singh was quoted as saying in response to a question on Rahul replacing him.

The son of Congress party president Sonia Gandhi and heir to a dynasty that has ruled independent India for almost four decades of its 64-year history, the premiership isn't just Rahul's for the taking, it's almost his birthright.

Despite Rahul's venture into politics so far yielding only mixed electoral results for Congress, senior party figures have in the past few weeks renewed calls for him to succeed Mr Singh.

Rahul is being cast as a youthful rejuvenator of a party and government drifting in the political doldrums.

Rahul's great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru announced to the world at midnight on 15 August, 1947, that India had re-awoken. He was born during the first premiership of his grandmother, Indira Gandhi, and saw his father, Rajiv, rule for five years.

And when his mother, the Italian-born Sonia who married into the family, led Congress to a surprising victory in 2004, Rahul's ascension seemed inevitable.

A general secretary of the ruling party and its campaign manager in India's most populous state, Rahul has kept his true political ambitious close to his chest.

But despite the public support of senior party figures such as finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, questions abound whether he has the abilities to revamp and lead a listless Congress party.

His much-vaunted political career has struggled since he left a job in London as a financial consultant to join the family trade, with a mixed record as an election strategist, a sense of political immaturity and a reputation for gaffes.

A member of the lower house of parliament since 2004, Rahul was elected to a seat that has been held by a Gandhi family member for 23 of the past 31 years, and unlike several other young Congress MPs considered close to him, has never held a ministerial portfolio.

In news conferences he often appears nervous, and on stage at political rallies he lacks the charm and self-confidence of his mother.

He failed in his first test, as Congress vastly under performed expectations in 2007 state elections. But two years later the party rebounded in a federal poll, winning 21 seats.

Much will rest on the state election next year.

That poll, pitting Cambridge-educated Rahul against chief minister Mayawati, the "Untouchable Queen" whose support is based around former low castes considered untouchable, will be his sternest political test, and set the stage for the 2014 general election.