Rahul tipped to lead CPP too

NEW DELHI: Congress President Rahul Gandhi is tipped to take over as chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP), senior members of the party said, though they refused to comment on when the change would happen.

Gandhi’s mother Sonia Gandhi is currently the chairperson of the CPP, and the members added that she would continue to be its member.

According to a senior party member, Congress representatives in Parliament will soon elect Gandhi as chairperson of the CPP. He added the election would happen soon but didn’t elaborate on the timing.

As the CPP chairperson, Rahul will have a free hand to nominate leaders, deputy leaders, chief whips and whips in both houses of Parliament.

Rahul chaired a CPP meeting during the winter session of Parliament last year, but he was merely standing in for his mother.

He was named the Congress’s president on 16 December after winning an election to the post unopposed. He was also the face of the party during its campaign in the Gujarat assembly election. The Congress won 77 seats in the 182-member house, more than it did in the 2012 elections, and also improved its vote share.

In his first interaction with reporters after the Gujarat results, Rahul said the poll outcome has given a “zabardast jhatka (massive jolt)” to the BJP.