It is now happening: Sonia on elevation of Rahul Gandhi as Congress chief

According to sources, Congress central election authority chairman Mullappally Ramachandran has already handed over the schedule for the election of the Congress president to Sonia. She is expected to convene a meeting of the Congress Working Committee to approve the schedule, after which the process of nomination for the elections would begin. Sonia attended the release of former President Pranab Mukherjee’s book The Coalition Years along with son Rahul on Friday.

When asked about Rahul’s elevation after the launch of Mukherjee’s autobiography, she told reporters “you have been asking this for so many years and it’s now happening”. Soon it will be done, she added. Rahul, who was by her side, parried the question, referring to the controversy over the business dealings of BJP president Amit Shah’s son Jay. What about the huge increase in Jay Shah’s company turnover, he asked.

Setting the stage for Rahul’s elevation, the Congress Working Committee had in November last year unanimously asked him to take up the mantle. It had conveyed its “strong sentiment” that he should take over from Sonia, who had stayed away from that meeting.