Amid speculation over Rahul’s elevation, Sonia calls key Cong meet on May 6

Agencies
NEW DELHI, MAY 1

Amid speculation over Rahul Gandhi’s impending elevation to Congress president’s post, current party chief Sonia Gandhi has called a key meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on May 6.
Members of the party’s highest decision-making body, the CWC, and Congress MPs will meet at Sonia’s residence in the national capital on Wednesday and also attend a dinner.
While the agendum of the meet is still not clear, sources said the meeting could decide on Rahul’s impending elevation. The meet will also provide both Sonia and Rahul an opportunity to have interactions with other party leaders.
A day before the May 6 meet, Lok Sabha MPs will also hold a separate meeting with the Congress president.
The party has 44 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 68 in the Rajya Sabha.
After returning from his nearly two-month-long sabbatical, Rahul Gandhi has led the Congress party in raising issues inside as well as outside Parliament.He raised the Land Acquisition Bill and other farmers’ issues in Lok Sabha, and also spoke on Net Neutrality amid a raging debate.
He also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as his pet ‘Make in India’ initiative, asking whether the campaign was only aimed at helping five to six crony capitalists.
He also took a swipe at PM Modi’s frequent foreign tours, advising him to also visit parts of the country when he is ‘visiting India’.
Yesterday, Rahul undertook a 15-kilometre-long ‘sanvad padyatra’ in Maharahstra’s Amravati district to meet distressed farmers and families of those who have committed suicide.
During Rahul’s sabbatical, his mother Sonia Gandhi had led the Congress in uniting the Opposition against the NDA government’s controversial Land Bill.

Cong VP visits Nepal Embassy, writes ‘people of India stand with you’

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Friday visited the Nepal Embassy in Delhi days after a strong earthquake devastated the neighbouring country.
Rahul condoled the earthquake victims and wrote a message in the visitors’ diary at the embassy.
“Over the last week the world has watched in horror as the true scale of the tragedy in Nepal unfolded before us. Some wounds will never heal, but as Nepal faces the hard task of rebuilding each broken life and broken buildings, the people of India stand with you in strength and solidarity. In the years to come, we will see a stronger, more prosperous, even beautiful Nepal whose ingenerable spirit will rise above present despair and inspire the world,” Rahul wrote.
He also met with Nepal’s Ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhyay.
After his meeting, Rahul said, “I wanted to come (here) and express my support for people of Nepal. I have already been co-coordinating some help, but reassured the ambassador that if they need any help they should let us know.”