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Bigger role for Rahul Gandhi
by Pankaj Yadav

      New Delhi: After registering her record breaking victory this afternoon in the Rae Bareli parliamentary by-poll, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi declared that her son and Lok Sabha MP from Amethi, Rahul Gandhi, could now be given greater responsibility in the party, especially keeping in mind next year's Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. "Yes, this could be thought about now," said Sonia at her '10 Janpath' residence while speaking to journalists. She was replying to a question from a reporter if Rahul would be assigned a greater responsibility in the party now. The demand for Rahul's inclusion in the party set up is nothing new. It gained momentum in the last plenary session of the party held in Hyderabad in January. But, then Rahul had rejected the offer of accepting any party post. He had said, "a leader is made step-by-step......right now I want to learn the basic lessons of politics, and want to hear and watch senior leaders than become a leader myself." But, now, after campaigning for his mother in Rae Bareli for 11 consecutive days and gifting her with a record breaking victory, Rahul is said to have positioned himself for more responsibility, sources close to 10 Janpath said.

     But, on the other hand, a confused BJP is on the lookout for a challenger to Rahul Gandhi in UP. Sources say that a recent meeting, BJP chief Rajnath Singh and senior leader LK Advani exchanged notes on assigning a post to Varun Gandhi, the son of Maneka Gandhi, and Rahul's first cousin. With less than a year to go for the UP polls, the biggest question before Rajnath Singh is how to revive the party in the state, which happens to be the country's biggest in political terms. The sources say that he is striving hard to rope in Varun Gandhi for the party's cause. Varun's mother, Maneka Gandhi, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Pilibhit (in UP), is said to be pressing the party for a safe Parliamentary seat for her son, preferably close to her constituency. Installing Varun at a senior position in the party is said to have stirred a hornet's nest. While a section in the party is of the view that Varun should be presented as an alternative to Rahul Gandhi in UP, others are reportedly of the view that such a move would make the BJP too a fiefdom of the Nehru-Gandhi family, which would be never acceptable to them. Varun had joined the party in 2004 before the last parliamentary elections and had aggressively campaigned for the party in the last Maharashtra polls held in the same year. Only the political developments in the coming months will determine the political posts the two scions of Nehru-Gandhi family will commandeer to get their respective parties ahead in UP.