Congress does not rule out Rahul becoming next chief

Congress Friday did not rule out the possibility of Rahul Gandhi becoming the next party chief, taking over the reins from his mother Sonia Gandhi, who has been the party's longest-serving president.

Party general secretary Digvijaya Singh has repeatedly demanded that Rahul Gandhi, who is vice president at present, should assume "full responsibility".

Asked about the remarks, party spokesperson Shobha Oza gave an open ended answer.

"Both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are our respected leaders. The party has a constitution and organisational elections are due," she said.

Digvijaya Singh had made the demand Thursday too, saying Rahul Gandhi has taken responsibility of party vice president and Sonia Gandhi should give him full responsibility of the All India Congress Committee.

Organisational elections in the party are expected to begin after two months and will lead to a new president's election. The party is also expected to hold a meet of All India Congress Committee in March.

Rahul Gandhi was appointed vice president in Jan 2013 and the party contested the last Lok Sabha election with him as the lead campaigner.

The Congress is making efforts at its revival and is keen to make a beginning by winning assembly polls.

It has called a meeting of its working committee Jan 13 which will discuss the political situation and work out ways to reach out to farmers against the Narendra Modi government on the land ordinance.

The party has formed a three-member panel, comprising former ministers Jairam Ramesh, K. V. Thomas and Anand Sharma, to finetune its strategy, and also plans to reach out to other opposition parties on the issue during parliament's budget session.