Senior Congress leaders have decided to ask general secretary Rahul Gandhi to unfurl the national flag at the Independence Day celebrations at the party's headquarters here on Akbar Road on Monday, a task customarily performed by the party president.
Mr. Gandhi, who has been with his mother and party president Sonia Gandhi, who underwent a major surgery in a hospital abroad, will return to Delhi on the eve of Independence Day, senior party sources confirmed to The Hindu . “Mr. Rahul will be asked to unfurl the flag,” these sources said, adding, “But if he doesn't agree, then Motilal Vora will do the honours.” Mr. Vora is the seniormost party functionary.
Sources close to Mr. Gandhi say, he is unlikely to take up the offer, as it would send out a political signal of a transition in the making. However, other party sources say, regardless of whether Mr. Gandhi unfurls the flag at the party headquarters or not, it is apparent that a transition is in the offing.
The party has, so far, released very little information on Ms. Gandhi's illness, beyond saying that she underwent surgery on August 4 and is now “convalescing successfully” (Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram), and “on expected lines” (a senior party functionary). But in the Congress circles, it is a matter of grave concern — and intense speculation.
Beyond the personal equations that individual members may have with Ms. Gandhi, her medical condition — if it is serious — could mean that she will no longer be as active as she has been since she took over the reins of a demoralised Congress in 1998, nursed it back to strength, and led it to two successive victories in 2004 and 2009. This is something the average Congressman is worried about — and is talking about privately.
Responding to the decision to ask Mr. Gandhi to unfurl the flag, a party functionary said, “It only means one thing — the party belongs to the family. But, on the other hand, if we go to elections without a member of the family at the helm, the party could collapse again.”
All eyes will be on Mr. Gandhi over the next few weeks, as he is called upon to stand in for his mother, in the next phase of his apprenticeship: he has already apparently agreed to stand in for his mother at the presentation of the 19th Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana award at Teen Murti House on August 20, Rajiv Gandhi's birth anniversary.
