Sonia to host dinner for Cong MPs on May 6

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 2

Congress president Sonia Gandhi will on May 6 host a dinner for Congress MPs from both Houses of Parliament. The dinner comes close on the heels of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s return from his sabbatical and his visible political transformation both inside and outside Parliament.

Rahul will be present for the dinner being described in Congress circles as Sonia’s bid to reinvigorate the party and celebrate its return in Parliament as the most credible opposition.

In the months after Congress’ Lok Sabha loss, the party had lied low in Parliament allowing the Trinamool Congress to occupy Opposition space. But after the formation of the Janata Parivar recently and from re-commencement of the ongoing Budget Session, the Congress has returned to the forefront as the lead opposition.

In Rahul’s absence, Sonia led the charge in and outside Parliament against the BJP government. Upon his return on April 16, Rahul has taken over the baton from his mother and is speaking frequently in the Lok Sabha having raised farmers’ issues principally.

This will be the first major event Sonia Gandhi would host for party MPs since the Congress was voted out of power in May 2014. In between on July 27 last she hosted an Iftar party to fill the vacuum around the occasion left by leaders of the ruling dispensation.