As Sonia speaks of retirement, Congress says dial down the excitement

Moments after Sonia Gandhi said that her role was now to retire, the Congress hurriedly asked everyone to dial down the excitement. The party came out to clarify that she was only retiring as the Congress President and not from active politics.

When asked about her role after Rahul Gandhi takes over as Congress president, she said, " my role now is to retire."

Immediately after she made the comment, the day was spent interpreting her statement. Congress leader Randeep Surjewala tried to dial down the excitement with a tweet. He said, " I would sincerely request friends in the media to not rely upon innuendos. Sonia Gandhi has retired as president of Indian National Congress and not from politics. Her blessings, wisdom and innate commitment to Congress ideology shall always be our guiding light."

Amidst this there was also speculation that Priyanka Gandhi may contest from Rae Bareli in 2019 if Sonia Gandhi vacates the seat. Analysts say that Sonia's message was to the party workers that she is giving a free hand to her son.

Her messages has however not gone down too well with the old guard who have been her trusted aides since the past 20 years. It is clear that many who form the old guard have not found favour with Rahul Gandhi and they may eased out over a period of time.

OneIndia News