Rahul is learning, don't pre-judge him, says Sheila Dikshit

New Delhi: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi "is learning" and it is not right to "pre-judge" him, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said on Saturday.

"He is learning, let us not pre-judge him, start judging him if he is chosen prime minister when Congress comes to power (in 2014)," Dikshit told CNN-IBN channel in an interview.

She was responding to questions related to Gandhi's remarks at an Indore rally on Thursday that an intelligence officer told him that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence was in touch with Muslim youths in riot-hit Muzaffarnagar.

Gandhi's remarks provoked BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to demand he either name the youths or apologise for degrading a community.

Modi also asked how an intelligence officer was briefing Rahul, just an MP.

"Some people just want to criticise him for the sake of criticism," said Dikshit.

The chief minister said the Congress party will choose its prime ministerial candidate when the party is in a position to form a government in 2014.

She played down NCP leader Sharad Pawar's remarks that Gandhi should have become a minister to gain experience.

"A person's mettle can be tested only when he reaches a position. Probably, that is what Pawar was referring to," said Dikshit.

She supported Gandhi's decision not to join the Manmohan Singh government.

"He did what he thought right," she said.