NEW DELHI, Jan 25: India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was making “rapid progress” on Sunday after successful coronary bypass surgery and could be back at work well ahead of general elections expected before May.

“The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh ... talked to his family this morning. The doctors attending on the prime minister say that he is stable, comfortable and is making rapid progress,” the government said in a statement.

Mr Singh will be in hospital for at least a week and may be able to return to work in a month, doctors involved in his operation have said.

No acting prime minister has been named while Mr Singh was in hospital, raising criticism the nuclear-armed power was rudderless while the 76-year-old leader recovered.

Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee will take over some prime ministerial responsibilities, as well as the finance portfolio, while he recovers. But the lack of a clear deputy led to speculation the ruling Congress party did not want to give Mr Mukherjee a public endorsement as acting prime minister, and overshadow other candidates within Congress battling to be Mr Singh’s successor.

The operation came just as his Congress party was preparing its campaign for a general election by May. The main battle is between the Congress-led government and a coalition led by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

Despite his illness, some analysts say there is no clear alternative to Mr Singh, a soft-spoken economist seen in India as a respected elder statesman.

Some members of Congress want Rahul Gandhi, heir to one of India’s most powerful family dynasties, to be his successor, but others say Mr Gandhi is too young and inexperienced to take over the reins of power.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani sent bouquets to the prime minister on Saturday.—Reuters