Cong: Sonia has retired, but not from politics
NEW DELHI : Even as Sonia Gandhi said on Friday that it was time for her to retire, the Congress party clarified that she has retired as party chief and not from politics. “Sonia Gandhi has retired as president of the Indian National Congress and not from politics. Her blessings, wisdom and innate commitment to Congress ideology shall always be our guiding light,” tweeted Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.
NEW DELHI: A day before Rahul Gandhi takes charge as Congress president, his mother and outgoing chief of the party, Sonia Gandhi, told reporters outside Parliament, “My role is to retire”.
Sonia, who turned 71 last week, has led the Congress party since 1998, becoming the longest serving president of the nearly 131-year-old party.
During a television interview some years ago, she had said she wanted to enjoy her retired life reading books and spending time with her family.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said: “Sonia Gandhi has retired as Congress president and not from politics.”
The 47-year-old Rahul, who will be the sixth member of the Nehru-Gandhi family to head the Congress, has his task cut out for him.
Besides the daunting mission of pulling the party out of its current phase of back-to-back electoral defeats, Rahul will look to go for an organisational overhaul, stitch together lasting alliances and lift the morale of its workers to revive the Congress’ fortunes.
If the exit polls for the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections are accurate, Rahul will likely begin his presidency with two defeats.
In 1998, when Sonia took charge of the Congress, chaos and confusion reigned supreme. It was a fragmented party that then ruled just four states and had 141 members in Lok Sabha.
The party’s flagging fortunes forced Sonia to come out of selfimposed political hibernation, but within six years she helped steer its fortunes around.
In 2004, a Congress-led coalition came to power at the Centre, and at the time, she had famously refused the PM’s post, opting to work for the Congress party instead.