NEW DELHI (Agencies) - Rahul Gandhi can become Prime Minister as early as after the Lok Sabha elections due soon if there was a suitable mandate, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee indicated on Saturday. Mukherjee, whose statement that days are not far off for Rahul who "may follow the footsteps of his father to become the Prime Minister", two days back, led to a chorus of demand, reiterated his remarks today in an interview to a news channel. His comments came close on the heels of AICC's assertion that it was up to Rahul to decide the timing of assuming the leadership of the country. Doing a delicate balancing act, the AICC had also said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has done well on every front. "Who knows he may follow the footsteps of his father one day when Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister at the age of early forties," Mukherjee said in the interview today.