India's Gandhi scion takes break to 'reflect' on party future

NEW DELHI: Beleaguered Indian Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi is taking a break from politics to "reflect" on the future course of his party after a series of electoral defeats, officials said Monday.
Gandhi has been heavily criticised for his lacklustre leadership as number two in the Congress, which has suffered a series of state election defeats since its disastrous performance in national polls last year.
"He has sought a few weeks of leave to reflect on his own role in the party and the future course of the Congress," said a senior party official who did not wish to be named.
"He will be back to work after that."
The party official, a former minister, dismissed speculation the 44-year-old Nehru-Gandhi family scion could quit politics altogether or take over from his mother Sonia as party president.
He came under fire from the opposition for his decision to go on a sabbatical on the same day that India's nearly month-long budget session of parliament started.
After a disastrous election campaign trail last year in which Rahul struggled to connect with voters, the party went on to suffer more losses.
These included a complete wipe-out in Delhi assembly elections earlier this month in which the upstart Aam Aadmi Party took power.
However, senior Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit denied that Gandhi's decision had anything to do with the recent Delhi election drubbing.
Rahul's father, grandmother and great-grandfather were all premiers of India, but he himself has the reputation of a reluctant leader who maintains a low profile in and outside parliament, where he is an MP.
His refusal of the political spotlight has frustrated colleagues, but few in the party have been willing to criticise him publicly.
It has not helped that his younger sister Priyanka brims with the charisma Rahul is accused of lacking, a point starkly illustrated during election campaigns.
Many Congress supporters have called for Priyanka to take a more prominent role in the party to revive the flagging political dynasty, but she has always refused. – AFP