Rahul, however, refused to get drawn into a discussion. The party is wrapping up an elaborate process of organisational polls by electing state chiefs, members of central bodies, and the president.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi indicated on Friday that her son and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi will soon take over as the chief of the country's oldest political party.
Talking to the media on the sidelines of a function marking the release of a book authored by former president Pranab Mukherjee, Sonia said Rahul's takeover was imminent. "You have been asking this for so many years and it's now happening," she said. Both Sonia and Rahul attended the book release function, where a normally quiet former prime minister Manmohan Singh regaled the audience with anecdotes about his relations with Mukherjee.
Rahul, however, refused to get drawn into a discussion. The party is wrapping up an elaborate process of organisational polls by electing state chiefs, members of central bodies, and the president.
Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's highest decision-making body, is expected to meet soon to decide the date for election of the new president. Party leaders said that even though Sonia will relinquish the office after 19 long years, a mechanism will be created to allow her to remain available for workers and office bearers as a guide.
A contest for the post of president is highly unlikely. Many state units have already passed unanimous resolution of elevating Rahul as the party president.
Congress party's election committee, under Mullapalli Ramchandran and his team, will announce the presidential election, if required, between October 15 and 20. An election will be held only if more than one nomination is filed for the post. According to the party constitution, all candidates running for the top post need to get their names jointly proposed by 10 Pradesh Congress Committee delegates and the proposal should reach the CWC. The entire process is all set to be completed by November. There is also a possibility of an AICC session, to be chaired by the new Congress president.
Since his return from the US, where he interacted with think-tanks and cyber experts involved in developing artificial intelligence in Silicon Valley, Rahul has led the Congress from the front. He has also been consistently attacking the Narendra Modi-led government and the ruling BJP over the slide in economy and the lack of jobs.
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