Rahul 'learning on job', improving; Priyanka 'bright girl': Karan Singh

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is "learning on the job" and improving, says veteran politician and former Union minister Karan Singh, who also showers praise on Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, calling her a "bright girl".

In a recent interview with PTI Videos, 93-year-old Singh, a 'Sadar-e-Riyasat (constitutional head)' of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state, spoke about his association with four generations of the Nehru-Gandhi family since Independence.

Quizzed about Rahul Gandhi, who faces tough questions after the Congress' debacle in the assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra, Singh said, "Rahul is a very nice young man. I am very fond of him." The former ambassador to the US said Rahul Gandhi used to be in close touch with him but "recently he has not been in such close touch".

"But he is improving, I think," he said.

"Every year, he is improving. I think he is learning on the job," Singh said and added that whether he would become the prime minister or not was a matter of speculation.

"But he has got good potential and has time to prepare himself," the former Union minister added.

Singh, who has known Priyanka Gandhi Vadra since her childhood, also did not hold back in praising her. "She is a bright girl. She sparkles. She is very bright." The former Union minister, who was inducted into Indira Gandhi's Cabinet at the age of 36, also termed first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru as his "mentor".

"...I was with her (Indira Gandhi) for 10 years in the Cabinet. I saw her finest moment, Bangladesh (liberation), and her darkest moment, the Emergency. 'Sab dekha hai (have seen it all)'," he said.

Singh also said Rajiv Gandhi's 1991 assassination was a terrible tragedy, believing that he "would have taken India into the 21st century" at that point of time.

An avid music lover, Singh still sings and does 'riyaz (systematic practice)' once a week.

He disclosed that his candidature for the post of president was considered in 2006 but it was struck down by the Left parties.

According to Singh, Sonia Gandhi had proposed his name during a meeting in 2006 but the Left parties said, "How can we have a 'maharaja' as a president?" Pratibha Patil became president in 2007.

However, Singh, who has served in the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and UNESCO, said he had no regrets at not having been made president.