Rahul Gandhi says he wants 'proactive role' in Indian politics Janardan Dwivedi, the Congress spokesman, hailed Mr Gandhi's commitment as a "welcome step" for Congress, which leads a coalition government but has been struggling to contain inflation, fiscal deficit, sliding growth and a string of corruption scandals. "We will be very happy if Rahul Gandhi takes on some more responsibility and it will be a very welcome step," Mr Dwivedi said in a statement, adding it was up to the party to offer a political berth or an official post to Gandhi. Veerappa Moily, the corporate affairs minister, responded with equal enthusiasm. "This is a time when we require the enthusiastic and passionate youth leader to take a greater role not only in politics but also governance of this country," Mr Moily said. The development follows urgings by Law Minister Salman Khurshid for Mr Gandhi to take a greater political role. "Until now we have only seen cameos of his thought," Mr Khurshid said earlier this month. But today we need an ideology to be given by our next-generation leader Rahul Gandhi to move forward. We have to be clear about what we want to go ahead with in the next elections," he added. With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expected to stand down at the end of his current term, Mr Gandhi's actions are being closely watched for signs that he will lead the Congress party into the next general election, due in 2014. His family lineage stretches back to Jawaharlal Nehru, independent India's first premier, with Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi and Rahul's father, Rajiv, also both prime ministers.