New Delhi: The unseasonal siesta of Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, to reflect on the future of the party, seems to have come with an extended expiration date.
Party sources have said that Rahul Gandhi has extended his vacation and is touted to return to active duty by the end of the week.
The timing of Gandhi’s sabbatical – his party explained he needed time to think – stirred a massive controversy; as he left just before the crucial Budget Session of Parliament began.
The Session has so far has been dominated by the Congress’s opposition to the government’s land reforms, an issue said to be close to Gandhi, but others have had to lead the party in his absence.
Now, he will not even be there to add to his party’s numbers when the Lok Sabha votes on the land acquisition bill this evening.
Gandhi is one of the Congress’ meager 44 lawmakers in the lower house, where the BJP-led NDA government has a majority.
They also clarified that he was ‘not quitting politics.’
Sources have revealed that Gandhi may replace his mother Sonia Gandhi as party president in April. Before he left Delhi, he reportedly held consultations with a cross-section of leaders, who endorsed his accession.
However, Sonia Gandhi refused to comment on reports that her son left the country in anger, over not being allowed to restructure the party.
There was speculation that Gandhi was frustrated at not being able to dismantle the “old guard coterie” that advises his mother.
Gandhi was also believed to resent being blamed for Congress hurtling from disaster to election disaster ever since it’s drubbing in the national elections in May last year.
Gandhi was seen as the chief architect of the Congress’s campaign for the national elections.
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