You people say I don’t know how to speak. Now let me show you how I speak.” This was AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi at a press conference in Lucknow on November 12, but his party strategists are apparently not convinced.

The heir-apparent of the Nehru-Gandhi family was prepared to defend the Indo-US civil nuclear deal during the short discussion in the Lok Sabha last Wednesday, but he was advised otherwise, said Congress sources. The Amethi MP had also prepared to defend the deal in the last Monsoon session of Parliament, but he never took off, according to sources.

In fact, last Wednesday it was left to other young guns Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia to defend the deal in the Lok Sabha.

Congress sources said Rahul Gandhi has been advised not to stick his neck out on a “contentious and divisive” issue like the nuclear deal. Sources said the objective is to ensure a “clean” image of Rahul like his father the late Rajiv Gandhi, who was also called “Mr Clean” in the beginning of his political career.

That perhaps explains why the Amethi MP has been a reticent parliamentarian despite the fact that he always got rave reviews for the few times he spoke in the Lok Sabha. In over three-and-a-half years of his tenure as an MP, Rahul has spoken only twice in the House — on the plight of sugarcane farmers in a Special Mention on March 21, 2005, and on education, while participating in a discussion on Budget on March 9, 2006. He put up only three unstarred questions — on quality education in technical institutions, vocational training institute and strengthening of Indira Gandhi Udaan Akademi, Fursatganj.

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