Sonia Gandhi, has been Congress President since April 1998 and her son Rahul Gandhi is the party's No. 2. (AFP File Photo)
Highlights
- Sonia Gandhi talks of passing the baton to Amarinder Singh
- Captain Singh is leading Congress campaign in Punjab
- Congress has been urging Rahul Gandhi's promotion to party chief
Sonia Gandhi has said that it's time for "the baton to be handed over to someone else," senior Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh told NDTV today in Chandigarh, donating the latest instalment to talk that her son, Rahul, will soon be promoted to party president.
After the Congress was exiled in key states in last month's elections, top Congress leaders said the party must urgently overhaul -"surgery" is how Digvijaya Singh described it - to course correct. Mrs Gandhi, 69, has been Congress President since April 1998. Mr Gandhi, 45, is the party's No. 2.
He led the campaign for the general election in 2014 which ended with the Congress collecting just 44 seats - its worst-ever result. Since then, the Congress has lost a series of elections, but party leaders feel it's time for him to formally take charge- and with it, potentially, accountability, though the Congress holds dear the practice of exonerating the Gandhis of failure in leadership for electoral disasters.
"It's her decision, the party will decide, we should respect her decision," said Captain Singh, who is leading the Congress campaign in Punjab, which votes next year.
The state is governed by a coalition of the Akali Dal and the BJP. A high-octane attempt to mark new territory is being led by Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi, whose Aam Aadmi Party won a surprise four seats in Punjab in the 2014 election.