Daijiworld Media Network

New Delhi, Aug 5: Congress president Sonia Gandhi (64) has handed over the functioning of the party to a four-member committee including AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi while she recovers from a surgery abroad. The other members of the panel notified by Sonia included defence minister AK Antony, her political secretary Ahmed Patel and Dwivedi.

The panel members have been asked to be in regular touch with the PM and Mukherjee and consult them on all issues.
 
Rahul and his sister Priyanka are said to accompany her abroad where she will undergo treatment. Sonia Gandhi was said to be under treatment for some time.  Not only are the Congress workers tight lipped about the nature of the surgery, even Sonia’s itinerary including the duration and place has been kept under the wraps supposedly on the advise of a special protection group mandated for her surgery.

A brief four-line statement released by AICC media department head and general secretary Janardan Dwivedi read: “Sonia Gandhi has been recently diagnosed with a medical condition that requires surgery. On advice of her doctors, she has travelled abroad and is likely to be away for two to three weeks”.

Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said “Public personalities are entitled to a certain degree of privacy when it concerns their medical condition.”