Rahul could be Congress president by Sept, says senior party leader

TIL Desk/National/New Delhi-Rahul Gandhi could be elevated as Congress president sooner than later. A senior leader, who declined to be identified, said Rahul could be the party chief by September. In May, the AICC had signaled that elevation of Rahul as Congress president was independent of the party suffering a debacle in the Assembly elections.

Only last month, senior party leader Jairam Ramesh had said that “Rahul Gandhi is de facto Congress chief but he should become de jure.” Ramesh wanted Rahul to take over the presidentship and make the party battle-ready without waiting for anti- incumbency to build up against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Making a strong pitch for Rahul’s leadership, Ramesh had said “uncertainty does not help”. He had maintained that the challenges faced by Congress were akin to those that prevailed when Sonia Gandhi had taken over the party in March 1998. Rahul was made the Congress vice president at the Jaipur chintan shivir in January 2013 held ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.