FILE: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi (Agence France-Presse photo)
There is no promotion for Rahul Gandhi on the cards today, say Congress sources, as top leaders of the party, led by Sonia Gandhi, meet to plan a comeback after the debacle in the national elections and the state elections that have followed.
There has been much speculation that Mr Gandhi would be named 'working president' of the party at today's brainstorming session off the Congress Working Committee or CWC. But sources say that while some leaders are expected to make that demand, today's meeting would focus on building a political strategy for the revival of the party, a key element of which will be an attempt to consolidate the support of farmers in the country.
All that spokesperson Randip Surjewala would say on Monday was that Rahul Gandhi was "our leader even when he was general secretary...You will be informed whenever the decision is taken as per the party constitution."
Mr Gandhi was the chief strategist of the Congress' campaign for the national elections held in May last year. The party plummeted from 206 seats to 44 in the Lok Sabha, its lowest tally ever.
It has also failed to make a mark in a single state election held in the months since, including those where it had ruled for years. The BJP has wrested control in most, as it did at the Centre.
Today's will be the second CWC meeting in recent months called to discuss the political situation and the challenges before the Congress. At the first, held in May last year, both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul had offered to resign owning responsibility for the party's performance in the national elections.
The party will discuss today its plan of action on the controversial land ordinance promulgated by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. The issue has become a rallying point to bring opposition parties together and the Congress sees an opportunity to consolidate the support of agitated farmers.
The party has already asked its state units to launch agitations.