Sonia hosts dinner to boost party morale

Congress president Sonia Gandhi hosted a dinner on Tuesday night for the party MPs and senior functionaries. This was the first appearance by her in such a large gathering after her illness in August last year. The dinner was hosted in the Parliament House.

Attended by veterans and top Congress strategists, the high table was occupied by the Congress president herself along with vicepresident Rahul Gandhi, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge, A. K. Antony, and Anand Sharma.

Though it was an informal gathering, the leaders who attended the dinner said that Ms Gandhi looked in charged. On being asked when Rahul would become Congress president, she said, “You will know when it happens.”

After the drubbing in the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand elections, there is demand from within the party for an overhaul. Some say that now Rahul should take over as Congress president. However, others feel onus should be put on leaders for the poll debacle.

The dinner also served as a confidence-building measure for the party bruised in the recent Assembly elections. This was the first time that the entire top leadership of Congress, along with the party MPs, assembled in one room after the election results.

Sources say that after the Budget Session of the Parliament comes to an end, the grand old party will see an organisational rejig.