Rahul steals the show at AICC session
by Pankaj Yadav

     Rajiv Nagar (Hyderabad): As the second day of the ongoing three-day AICC session began here today with the welcome address by the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) chief K Keshav Rao, Congress delegates from across the country present on the occasion disrupted the proceedings demanding that Rahul must be first invited to address the gathering. After Rao yielded to the emerging 'hot' situation and stepped back from the mike, senior Congress leaders, including Janardhan Dwevedi and Ambika Soni rushed to the mike appealing to the agitated Congress leaders that Rahul has expressed the desire to speak tomorrow, and that they should respect his desire. But, the Congressmen refused to relent, and Rahul, who was seated in front of the podium in the space allotted for MPs and MLAs, had to get up and reach out to the mike to appeal to the Congress workers to maintain discipline and let the session proceedings go on smoothly.

    "Namaskar, jaisa ki abhi Dwevedi ji ne kaha main kal boloonga, aur jab tak main wahan baetha hoon," he said and left the mike even as his mother and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi was seen wearing a broad smile on her face. The fact that Rahul baba was in great demand and attracted most of the limelight, after his mother, could be gauged from the fact that almost every leader who spoke on the occasion sang tunes in his praise, inviting him to actively participate in the party organisation. Union Parliamentary Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi said that the time had come when Rahul should lead the party from the front, and he need no longer sit in front of the podium. "Main tumse umar main bada hoon, aur rae deta hoon ki aap party ko lead karo," he said amid applause. Heaps of praise on the members of the Nehru-Gandhi family continued unabated despite Sonia's appeal in the very beginning of the second day of the Session that the speakers should not waste time in showering praise on her. "Maire baare mein jyaada bolene ki jaroorat nahi hai," she added amid a huge laughter from the Congress leaders present on the occasion.

    Earlier, when Rahul entered the venue, he was mobbed by Congress leaders, particularly the youth leaders. Almost everyone stretched his or her hand to touch the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family, before security personnel rushed to throw a security cordon around him. Dressed in his traditional attire - kurta payjama - Rahul was seen accepting everybody's wishes and waving hands at the Congress delegates who were kept at a distance by the all-time alert security personnel. Meanwhile, Rahul's sister Priyanka Gandhi, who was till recently projected as the new face of the Congress, remained away from the AICC session. It appears to be a well-chalked out strategy by the coterie of advisers at 10 Janpath to let all media focus on only one - that is Rahul.

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