Rahul running Cong ably, will become chief soon: Ambika Soni

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will take over the reins of party president from his mother Sonia Gandhi soon, senior leader Ambika Soni said in Shimla on Tuesday.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will take over the reins of party president from his mother Sonia Gandhi soon, senior leader Ambika Soni said in Shimla on Tuesday.

AICC general secretary and party in-charge for Himachal Pradesh Ambika Soni with chief minister Virbhadra Singh addresses media in Shimla. (PTI Photo)

“Rahul Gandhi is going to become the party chief very soon. Though I don’t have a crystal glass to predict this but he will take over the mantle shortly...

“He takes important decisions and also consults the Congress president where he feels like. He calls leaders when he feels the need to talk to them. He is running the Congress very ably,” Soni, who is the Himachal Pradesh party affairs in-charge, told reporters.

Soni said a formal decision to elevate Rahul could take place once Sonia, 69, recovers from a shoulder injury. Sonia had to cut short a road show in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi on August 3 after she felt dizzy and was later hospitalised in Delhi with a fracture in the shoulder.

On Rahul’s sister Priyanka, Soni said:“...I have seen her working backstage in the last Lok Sabha elections for all constituencies, not just (Nehru-Gandhi family bastions of) Amethi and Rae Bareli. With elections nearing, the party would like to see her in an active role.”