Sonia Gandhi recovering in ICU after surgery

Mangalore Today / NDTV

New Delhi, August 5: Congress President Sonia Gandhi was on Friday recovering in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a US hospital where she underwent successful surgery for an undisclosed ailment. The party on Friday issued a brief statement that 64-year-old Sonia underwent surgery on August 4 and the surgeon has indicated that the surgery has been successful.

 

 

At present, Sonia is in ICU, a statement by Congress General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said.

However, the statement did not disclose what the surgery was or the location of the hospital where it was performed.


Her children Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and son-in-law Robert Vadra are with Sonia, the party said. Sonia’s family has requested that her privacy be respected.

"This is a personal matter that pertains to her health and medical treatment. Her family requests that her privacy be respected," Dwivedi said.

Sonia had decided that in her absence a group comprising Rahul and Defense Minister AK Antony, her political aide Ahmed Patel and party General Secretary Janadan Dwivedi. Significance is attached to the fact that Rahul will be part of the committee that has only one senior minister of the government and two leaders from the organisation.

Asked to explain the absence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee from the group, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari had said on Thursday, "They (the Prime Minister and Finance Minister) are senior members who have been active in the organisation for long".

To a question about her health condition and the kind of surgery, she has to undergo, Tewari had declined to go into details.

"Even public personalities are entitled to certain amount of privacy so far as their medical condition is concerned. Our friends in media should bear that sensitivity in mind," he said.

The Congress President had not been keeping well in the past and because of her illness, she could not attend meetings of the Congress Core Group as also that of the Parliamentary Strategy Committee.


Winds of change for Congress as Rahul takes over

Sagarika GhoseSagarika Ghose , CNN-IBN


New Delhi, August 5: When he turned 41 in June, the ’Rahul for PM’ chorus was heard loud and clear. Congress leader Digvijaya Singh had said, "Rahul should be prime minister."

 

But Rahul Gandhi preferred to focus his ambitions not in Delhi but in UP, trudging through the countryside from Bhatta Parsaul to Aligarh on a padyatra against the land acquisition policies of the Mayawati government and talking directly to farmers.

Ever since his debut as an MP from Amethi in 2004, he always insisted that he’s a messiah of the poor.

But now it is no longer Kalavati or even Mayawati. Now Rahul’s responsibility is the grand old party itself. There have been clear signs recently that Rahul is the final authority in the Congress. Appointed General Secretary in 2007, his mother Sonia had always groomed him for the top job and the party has deferred to him more and more.

After the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai it was Rahul who insisted that Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh resign, the new chief minister Ashok Chavan was his choice.

The recent Cabinet reshuffle saw some members of Rahul’s inner circle get ministerial berths - Jitendra Singh as MoS Home and the choice of Jairam Ramesh as Rural Development Minister was reportedly his.

His brief in the Congress has been revival of grass roots democracy and revival of the Youth Congress.

But the Amul Baby has grown up overnight, now easing into the leadership role his great grandfather, grandmother, father have held in the Congress party.

At 41, Rahul Gandhi is a year older than his father Rajiv when he became prime minister and he’s already sat at the presidential table when Barack Obama visited Delhi. From sitting at Obama’s table, Rahul Gandhi is now sitting at the Congress High Table. The dynasty is alive.