Dear Rahul… Yours sincerely Manmohan Singh

(Manmohan Singh)

The letter was dated 23 February,2009. AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi had sent the book to the Prime Minister as he recuperated from his heart surgery.

The gesture may not have been unusual. But the choice,a book written by a former CIA agent,showed that Rahul,widely believed to be a prime minister-in-waiting,and Singh were willing to engage on pressing issues occupying the national agenda.

In other letters — few and far between,but more often in 2009 — the two discussed climate change,education and health issues as well as an aviation institute coming up in Sonia Gandhi’s constituency. In his replies,the Prime Minister indicated he was thankful for Rahul’s suggestions and happy to accommodate them.

Letters written by Manmohan Singh to Rahul Gandhi.

The Sunday Express obtained copies of their correspondence through an RTI query on the Prime Minister’s letters to Rahul and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. (His letters to her will be published in The Indian Express edition of April 12.)

While Rahul has consistently refused to join the government despite calls by among others the PM,the correspondence shows that the AICC general secretary shares ideas on issues that excite him with Singh. The gap between the letters — two each in 2007 and 2008 to five letters in 2009 — also underlines that he remains wary of being seen as delving into day-to-day issues of governance.

On September 7,2009,the PM wrote to him thanking him for focusing his attention on the melting of glaciers,the drying up of rivers and the serious scourge of droughts and floods,which Singh had made mention of in his address to the nation on the preceding Independence Day.

“The suggestions that you have made are indeed timely and I have requested the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India to follow up on them and let me know what could be done to address these serious problems,” stated the PM.

Climate change,in fact,seems an area of special concern with Rahul. Way back in November 2007,in what was his second letter to Singh,he had suggested establishment of a National Commission for Climate Change and Water. “I would like to discuss this matter with you on a mutually convenient date,” the PM wrote back. There were,however,no more written communications between the two on this issue.

In a letter to the Amethi MP in August 2007,apparently in response to the latter’s interest in the issue,the PM wrote that the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA)’s MoU with Canadian Aviation Electronics would transform the former into a global centre of excellence.

“The civil aviation sector is booming and the growth of IGRUA will certainly fulfill a felt need for pilots. I also hope that its growth would be leveraged for the all-round development of Rae Bareli,” wrote the PM.

On July 7,2008,Rahul suggested “mobilisation of the business sector for combating HIV and AIDS” in a letter. The PM welcomed the suggestion and said he had asked the Minister of Health & Family Welfare to prepare a time-bound plan to achieve this objective.