Amid the growing clamour by senior party leaders to give him a larger role in the organisation,Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi today indicated his readiness to move beyond students and youth wings of the party and take up a bigger responsibility,either in the government or the party. Congress sources said a final decision on his next role is yet to be taken. Asked if he would play a more active role in the party as demanded by many leaders,Rahul told NDTV today,That decision has been taken. It has been under discussion of the party leadership. To another question on whether he would join the party or the government,he said that both options are open. He refused to set any timeframe for assuming the next role,saying that it is for the two bosses (Congress president and the Prime Minster) to decide. While Rahuls remarks set off speculation about his induction in the government either as Minister of State in the Prime Ministers Office or as a Cabinet Minister with a key portfolio,Congress sources said the issue of whether he will join the government or not is still open and the party leadership will take a call after studying the pros and cons. While his induction will certainly give a new look and revitalise the UPA government,one has to see whether his presence in the Council of Ministers would,in any way,undermine the existing power set-up. Besides,from the beginning,Rahul has been focussing on reviving and rejuvenating the party and it has to be discussed whether his preoccupation with governance,if he is made a minister,would have any bearing on his primary goal, a senior Congress leader told The Indian Express. We will be very happy if Rahul takes on some more responsibility and it will be a very welcome step. What responsibility (whether in the government or the party) and when is upto the party leadership and him to decide, said AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi in a press release. On many occasions in the past,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged Rahul to join the government. But the Amethi MP maintained that his focus was on completing the process of democratisation in the Youth Congress and the NSUI through internal elections,which had started from Punjab in 2008. After the completion of internal elections in all states,Rahul sent an SMS to Youth Congress office-bearers on Tuesday stating,.yesterday we finished elections in Andhra Pradesh,I want to congratulate the entire IYC family for delivering elections in the entire country. Its a proud moment for the IYC. We have done something fundamental and done it well. The youth of the country and Congress workers were demanding that Rahulji should play a bigger role. We welcome the fact that Soniaji has given the green signal for this. It will further strengthen the Congress, said IYC president Rajiv Satav. Congress sources said that while there has not been any discussion on Rahuls role in the government yet,several options were under discussion regarding his future role in the organisatoin,including the post of secretary general or AICC general secretary in charge of organisation. Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh said today that the change in Rahuls role is likely to take place after the vice-presidential election next month or after the Monsoon Session of Parliament in September.
