'Prince' Rahul warms up to throne

That Sonia appointed her son and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi as one of the four members to steer the Congress in her absence, is a clear indication that he has moved a step closer to lead the organisation.

With this, Rahul may virtually act like the working president of the party, deputising for his mother.

Coming at a time when Parliament is in session and facing some key issues, he will have to be hands-on for consultations with the government as party’s representative.

After being appointed general secretary in September, 2007, this is the first time the scion has been upgraded though there had been demand from the party to give him more responsibility either in the government or within the party.  “It is a small but significant sign of transition”, a political commentator said.

If Sonia’s return is delayed – she may stay away from party work even after coming back to India for recuperation – then Rahul could be seen to run the party for a longer time. In such a scenario, it won’t be a surprise if he is officially appointed party working president.

For Congress leaders and party workers, the announcement of surgery has taken them by surprise – the party is essentially Sonia-centric and her absence from the country should naturally come as a shock to them.Politically, Rahul has had mixed success so far. The Lok Sabha results for Uttar Pradesh (where it won 21 seats) came as pleasant surprise for the party.

However, subsequent Assembly elections have been a disaster, be it in Bihar or in Tamil Nadu though in West Bengal, the party managed to do well, thanks to Trinamool Congress.

Real take-over

Sonia’s move has made it amply clear that Rahul’s probation in the party is over and he may be getting ready for the real take-over of party reins.

Apart from Rahul, the four-member team has defence minister A K Antony, Sonia’s political secretary Ahmed Patel and chief spokesman Janardhan Dwivedi.

The ‘G-4’ will take important decisions for the party and coordinate with the government.
Antony, trusted completely by the family, is the lone government representative in the group. Patel handles all key decisions of the party. What is also interesting is the appointment of Dwivedi in the group and it is deemed as an elevation for him in the organisation.

The chief spokesman was said to be feeling a little left out following the recent cabinet reshuffle but he should be more than happy at the latest and unexpected turn of events, personally. It is also interesting to note those names which have been left out.

Prime minister Manmohan Singh and finance minister and party and government’s chief trouble shooter Pranab Mukherjee are not in the list but they won’t lose sleep over it as both are pre-occupied with the busy ongoing Parliament session.

Two leaders who should be aghast at the list would be party general secretary Digvijay Singh and home minister P Chidambaram.

The speculation in the Congress circles is that Singh is close to Rahul because he is general secretary for UP, which will go to polls next year. Chidambaram is the third senior-most in the government after prime minister and Pranab Mukherjee.