Truant Rahul likely to take over Cong reins in April

New Delhi: AICC vice president Rahul Gandhi will be made Congress president in April, a report said on Wednesday amid a massive speculation over his "leave of absence" in the middle of Parliament's Budget Session.Citing top sources in the Congress, the report said the 44-year-old leader will formally take the command at the All India Congress Committee meeting in April while his mother and party chief Sonia Gandhi will continue to remain the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party.

Top Congress leaders believe that the direction that the party adopts at the upcoming AICC session will decide its future as it faces its worst time ever. The Congress vice president reportedly held consultations with a cross section of leaders, who endorsed his takeover of the 130-year-old party. While Rahul Gandhi's crowning has been anticipated for some time, the news has crystalized at a time the party is confronting criticism over his sabbatical during the budget session.

Rahul Gandhi, the fourth generation of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, was appointed the party's number two leader in Jaipur in 2013, but he has had a disappointing run, leading the party to a series of poll debacles including its worst drubbing in a national election last year.

A section of the party believes that he must take full control and shed the image of a reluctant politician before restructuring the organisation. Rahul is reported to have taken the "leave of absence" to reflect on a series of electoral defeats and deliberate on the future course of the 130-year-old party. There has been a lot of speculation since Monday over why Rahul chose to go on a sabbatical on the first day of Parliament's Budget session in which the opposition plans to corner the Narendra Modi government over a series of issues.