Come Clean on Rahul

Rahul Gandhi’s sudden disappearance from the capital at the time of the Budget session of Parliament has caused legitimate speculation. According to his party sources, he has taken “leave” from the Congress for “a few weeks”. No one has specified how long “a few weeks” could turn out to be. Nor has anyone in the party deemed it necessary to explain why it was necessary to go on leave at this time when the Congress, with its greatly reduced strength of just 44 in the Lok Sabha, would have been far better off with its vice-president present in Parliament. His party has merely said that he has been granted leave of absence so that he could reflect on the recent events and the future course. Some top sources insisted that Rahul needed the break to work on a blueprint to revive the party since he was set to take over as Congress president this year. Those outside the party are not so sure. He has been known as the reluctant politician, and most people outside the Congress feel that he is unwilling to be the “boy who stood on the burning deck” of a party that has a great past but virtually no future worth talking about. The Congress would do better to come clean on Rahul and to let the tion know what the plans of its future president are.