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 Singh, 81, has presided over India for a decade at the head of
coalition governments led by the Congress party and was widely
expected to step down.
Gandhi will have his work cut out if he's chosen to lead the
Congress party into the election with corruption scandals, stubborn
inflation and decade-low growth eroding support, opinion polls show.
"In a few months' time, after the general election, I will hand the
baton over to a new prime minister," Singh said at a rare news
conference, adding that a "new generation" would guide the country.
Singh said Gandhi, 43, should be the Congress party's prime
ministerial candidate.
"Rahul Gandhi has outstanding credentials to be nominated as the
candidate and I hope our party will take that decision at an
appropriate time."
The Congress is due to hold a top-level meeting on January 17 and is
expected to announce its candidate soon afterwards.
Whoever gets the nod will face off in the election against Narendra
Modi, of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who is
ahead in the opinion polls.
Modi is campaigning on a platform to revive an economy growing at
its slowest in a decade and end the red tape and corruption that
have bedeviled the Congress-led coalition.
The Congress fared badly in elections in four large states towards
the end of last year, largely due to voters' anger over corruption.
"DISASTROUS"
Compared with the relatively untested Gandhi, Modi has years of
experience as the chief minister of the western state of Gujarat
where he has built a reputation as a business-savvy and
investor-friendly administrator.
But he has been unable to fully shake off allegations over
anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat in 2002 in which at least 1,000 people
were killed, most of them Muslims.
Modi denies wrongdoing and a Supreme Court investigation found no
evidence to prosecute him.
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Singh was scathing about Modi, saying he would be bad for India.
"I sincerely believe that it would be disastrous for the country to
have Narendra Modi as the prime minister," said the softly-spoken
Singh.
Singh rejected a suggestion that he had been a weak prime minister
and again referred to Modi.
"If by strong prime minister you mean that you preside over the mass
massacre of innocent citizens in the streets ... I do not believe
that sort of strength this country needs. Least of all in its prime
minister," Singh said.
BJP spokeswoman Nirmala Sitharaman said on her Twitter account she
was "utterly disappointed" with Singh's remarks.
In what was seen as his farewell news conference, the prime minister
took a conciliatory tone on a dispute with the United States over
the arrest of an Indian diplomat in New York.
Singh said the government was committed to good relations between
the two countries.
"There have been recently some hiccups but I sincerely believe that
these are temporary aberrations and diplomacy should be given a
chance to resolve these issues that have arisen," Singh said.
(Additional reporting by Malini Menon; editing by Jo Winterbottom
and Robert Birsel)
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