New Delhi, Sep 24 - Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is likely to be appointed as a general secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) Monday during a reshuffle in the party organisation, party sources indicated.The AICC is holding a 'special and urgent media' briefing at its 24, Akbar Road, headquarters here Monday afternoon.According to sources in the AICC, party president Sonia Gandhi has finalised her new team and the media will be briefed about it.Sources said Rahul Gandhi may be appointed one of the eight general secretaries of the party and given charge of frontal organisations like youth and student affairs to bring him in more regular contact with the young Congress workers.Sonia Gandhi was re-elected Congress president on May 28, 2005, and since then 'Congress workers have been awaiting a new team and demanding greater responsibility for Rahul Gandhi', said a Youth Congress leader reacting to reports of Rahul's possible induction, though he did not confirm who were being inducted and who were the deadwood likely to be removed.The timing of the move is significant, since there is a lot of speculation about early Lok Sabha polls and a new team needs to take over in advance of the actual announcement of elections, opined a Congress worker.If Sonia decides to induct Rahul and also hand him the stewardship of the youth organisations, she would be borrowing another leaf from her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi life who had appointed Rahul's father Rajiv Ganhi as AICC general secretary and given him youth affairs as a first step to initiating him into active politics, grooming him for future prime ministership.Formally however, no senior leader was available to state what was expected in the 'special urgent' media briefing later Monday.
(c) Indo-Asian News Service
