Rahul Gandhi must take over as party president: Sushmita Dev, Mahila Congress chief

Sushmita Dev, president of the All India Mahila Congress (AIMC)

The chief of Congress’ women wing has said the “time has come” for party vice-president Rahul Gandhi to take over the mantle of the organisation from his mother Sonia Gandhi.

Sushmita Dev, president of the All India Mahila Congress (AIMC), said Rahul Gandhi should lead from the front and take over as chief of the main opposition party. “I am a strong supporter of Gandhi and the AIMC wants him to take charge as president of the party. The time has come for this to happen,” Dev told PTI in Vadodara on Tuesday.

Dev, who is also a Lok Sabha MP, was accompanying Rahul Gandhi when he addressed a gathering of students here on the second day of his election campaign in Gujarat. Bhavna Jain, Mumbai Mahila Congress vice-president, also echoed the views expressed by Dev. “He should take over as president of the party,” Jain said.

Dev, the MP from Silchar in Assam, said the Congress will work out a strategy for getting the long-pending Women’s Reservation Bill passed in the Lok Sabha. “Congress president (Sonia Gandhi) has already written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to get the bill passed in the Lok Sabha, where the BJP enjoys a majority,” she said.