Congress president Sonia Gandhi will be back next week, having recuperated after a surgery in the United States, but is likely to take another month or so before taking charge of the party.

Sonia, whose absence many in the Congress said was felt during the Anna crisis, will return between September 5 and 10, sources said. Her son and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi has left for the US to accompany her back.

An indication that she was recovering came when both Rahul and Priyanka were here together last week. Priyanka was in the special visitors’ gallery when Rahul spoke in the Lok Sabha on the Jan Lokpal Bill.

The four-member committee Sonia set up in her absence — Rahul, A K Antony, Ahmed Patel and Janardan Dwivedi — did hold a couple of meetings last fortnight. Its agenda: the Anna Hazare issue and selection of candidates for the UP Assembly elections, sources said. Rahul kept Sonia updated on the Anna crisis over the telephone.

Indian Express 31 Aug 2011