Gandhi scion elevated in Congress party hierarchy

INDIA: Sonia Gandhi, the governing Congress party chief, elevated her son to a key party position Monday for the first time since he joined politics three years ago, amid speculation that India may have early parliamentary elections.

Rahul Gandhi, 37, will be a party general secretary and also look after its youth wing, Janardhan Dwivedi, a party spokesman, told reporters. He will also be a member of the party’s highest policy-making body - the Congress party Working Committee.

The appointment comes amid speculation that India’s parliamentary elections may be held earlier than scheduled in 2009 because of a major rift between the Congress and its communist allies over the India-United States nuclear deal. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government depends on the communists for its survival.

Rahul belongs to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty - unrelated to India’s independence leader Mohandas K. Gandhi - which has governed India for nearly four decades of its 60 years as an independent nation.

New Delhi, Wednesday, AP