The Congress is in no hurry to take on Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi but watching the silence of L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and the top brass of the RSS on the demand that Mr Modi be projected as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate.

Regional parties watching developments in the Congress and the BJP could play their cards after presentation of the general budget in Parliament. They have been key players in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Rahul Gandhi’s elevation to Congress party vice-president will compel the Opposition parties to start drawing up their electoral strategies as he is sure to be the Congress’ prime ministerial candidate in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He will also take part in the party’s core group, seen as a super-CWC.

In his maiden speech as Congress vice-president, Rahul Gandhi struck an emotional chord with delegates at the Jaipur conclave that included his mother, party chief Sonia Gandhi, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as he spoke from the heart on the ills that afflict the party and the people of India.

The Congress is ready for the UPA 3 if one goes by the spirit of discussions at its chintan shivir.

Rahul Gandhi on Saturday became the vice-president of the Congress party. The generational change took place here on the eve of the AICC meeting, making him officially number two in the party.

The Congress is ready for the UPA 3 if one goes by the spirit of discussions at its chintan shivir. The developments in the BJP on its leadership issue is making the Congress optimistic that it can retain power at the Centre this time as well. The brain-storming session saw several suggestions including coining a catchy slogan like “Congress ka haath, yuva ke saath”, discredit smaller parties to gain space, reject nomination culture and strengthening bloc units.

If the Congress’ core constituency is being eroded because of the Mandal and Ayodhya agitations, reforms have not strengthened it politically if one goes by the outcome of the Lok Sabha polls since 19

The two-day Congress chintan shivir beginning here from Friday is being held at a time when civil society is emerging as more of a potential threat to the party rather than political adversaries because civil society groups have brought the issues of governance, welfare state and corruption to the fore while political parties believe caste, regional issues and communalism will remain the trump cards in elections.

Advancing Lok Sabha elections, projection of a “leader”, impact of flagship programmes, alliances and Narendra Modi’s growing appeal among industry captains and the middle class would be debated, dire