India's Prime Minister To Step Down After 10 Years in Office

Manmohan Singh's decision clears the way for Rahul Gandhi to be the next prime minister provided the Indian National Congress are still in power after this year's elections

NEW DELHI (AP) — India's prime minister said Friday that he would step aside after 10 years in office, paving the way for Rahul Gandhi to take the reins of the world's biggest democracy if his party stays in power in this year's elections.

In only his third news conference in a decade, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that Gandhi — the 43-year-old heir to India's Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty — has the best credentials to become the next head of the Congress Party and prime minister. Singh is 81 and was not expected to seek another term.