With the ailing 64-year old congress President Sonia Gandhi appointing a 4-member committee that included her son Rahul Gandhi to lead the party in her absence, decks are cleared for the 41-year old congress general secretary to take the reigns of the party in the near future.

The Sonia-appointed committee included Defence Minister AK Antony, general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi and her political secretary Ahmad Patel apart from Rahul Gandhi.

The committee has no place for seasoned politicians such as Pranab Mukherjee and P. Chidambaram who played key roles in party affairs as well as the Government. 

It is true that Rahul will now be taking over the reigns of the party directly but it is also true that the young leader began asserting himself in the party long back.No one can deny the fact that it was he who insisted that Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh resign following the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

The selection of Ashok Chavan as successor to Deshmukh was also done at his behest, according to reports.

Reports suggested that Rahul played a key role even in the recent cabinet reshuffle. It is now known to all that the choice of Jairam Ramesh as Rural Development Minister was Rahul’s.  The appointment of Jitendra Singh as MoS in the Home Ministry was also done at his behest.

It is now just a matter of days or months before he takes over as the party president or even as the country’s Prime Minister.