By IANS,
New Delhi : Congress president Sonia Gandhi has gone abroad to undergo an operation, nominating her son Rahul Gandhi and three others to effectively head the party during the two or three weeks she will be away.
The Congress did not say where Sonia Gandhi, 64, was being treated, though party sources said she was in the US. It did not say when she left India.
Congress chief spokesperson Janardhan Dwivedi said she would undergo surgery Friday or Saturday, contradicting his own earlier statement that the operation had already been performed.
He said that Gandhi had formed a four-member group, including general secretary Rahul Gandhi, to look after party affairs in her absence.
Besides Gandhi, the others in the group are long-time loyalists Defence Minister A.K. Antony, her political secretary Ahmed Patel and Dwivedi.
“Sonia Gandhi has been recently diagnosed with a medical condition that requires surgery. On advice from her doctors, she has travelled abroad and is likely to be away for two to three weeks,” Dwivedi said here.
Congress sources said she had an abdomen-related ailment.
According to party sources, Gandhi was down with viral fever since Sunday and could not attend meetings of the Congress core committee.
Her last known public engagement was her 24-hour visit to Bangladesh from July 24.
A party leader said the Congress headquarters had received reports of prayer meetings and ‘havans’ conducted in different parts of the country, wishing Gandhi a speedy recovery.