Rahul Gandhi replace Sonia Gandhi as the Congress President

With Rahul Gandhi poised to replace his mother Sonia Gandhi as the Congress president, it is his “humble man” and “friend of the poor” image which party strategists are trying to highlight against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pro-industrialist persona.

On Friday, Sonia Gandhi broke her silence on her son’s proposed elevation in the party and said, on the sidelines of a book launch, “Rahul Gandhi will be Congress president soon”.

Former Union minister Sachin Pilot indicated recently that Rahul will take over the reins of the outfit after Diwali.

Sources in the Congress told this newspaper that the party is of the opinion that Rahul’s campaign in Gujarat has boosted his image with his pointed attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The most recent tweet on Rahul Gandhi’s official twitter handle is a poem on hunger and a report on how



India had come down in the Global Hunger Index.

In an earlier tweet, Rahul took a jibe at the Prime Minister’s remark that a “handful of people” were trying to spread pessimism in India. After the International Monetary Fund and World Bank downgraded India’s growth forecast in their latest reports, the Congress vice-president tweeted: “These pessimists are going global. Why don’t they just go away?”

The BJP was quick to hit back with Union minister Jitendra Singh taking pot shots at the Congress scion, saying that it was too late for Rahul Gandhi to change.

“Don’t you think 50 is too old to be coming of age?” Singh said about Rahul, 47, being projected as a youth leader.