Division of work between Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi an ideal situation: Congress

NEW DELHI: Division of work between Sonia and Rahul Gandhi was an "ideal situation" and the two leaders are a confluence of maturity and youthfulness, Congress said today as it steered clear of questions over Rahul's elevation.

It insisted that the party was in a "very comfortable position" with a youthful Vice President and a mature and experienced Sonia Gandhi as President. "It is a confluence of youthfulness and maturity."

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad also dismissed suggestions that such an arrangement would lead to two power centres in the organisation.

Briefing reporters after a Congress Working Committee meeting, which decided for extending the tenure of Sonia Gandhi as party president for up to one year, Azad said it is a "division of work", which will strengthen the organisation.

"It's a good thing. It is not a new thing. When Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister and Congress President, Rajiv Gandhi had worked as General Secretary for four years and had she not been assassinated, he could have continued in the same position for some more time," Azad said.

He insisted that it was an "ideal situation" as the two leaders were working in a cordial atmosphere.

"We are very confident. What else could be better that both a youthful leader and a mature and experienced leader available to us," he said.

Asked about the efficacy of two power centres in one party, Azad said, "you are wrong. There are no two power centres. We are like one unit. It is not NDA, where one person takes all the decisions."

Soon after Rahul's return from sabbatical earlier this year, there were speculations that he would be elevated sooner than later.