"I think it is time that Rahul can become the Prime Minister," Singh said, talking to PTI.
"Rahul is now 40 and he has been working for the party for the last seven to eight years," Singh said.
The scion of Gandhi family had the right qualities, instincts and experience to take up the mantle of the prime minister-ship now, Singh said.
He rejected the contention that he himself was doing the politics of minority appeasement. When he was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, he had taken action against both the SIMI as well as the Bajrang Dal, Singh pointed out.
"When Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is felicitated by Muslims, that is not called appeasement, but when I went to Azamgarh, I was opposed by the Ulema council on one hand and RSS-BJP on the other."
About another former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Uma Bharti, who recently returned to BJP, Singh said it must not be forgotten that she once maintained that she would not be `true to her parents` if she went back to the party.
Singh added that he had prophesied the day Uma was expelled that she would return to BJP, as she would not find shelter anywhere else.