Congress president next week +easy elevation is unsurprising +improved his Twitter following +revealed that he is a black belt +NEW DELHI: In January 2013, Rahul Gandhi was named Congress vice president the day after his mother told him that "power is like poison".Five years after that emotional acceptance speech in Jaipur, Rahul Gandhi is ready to pick up that poison chalice. So, as he moved from a home education to Delhi University's St Stephen's College and then to Harvard and Rollins College in Florida and Trinity College, Cambridge, the final goal was always clear.He also joined the Monitor Group, a consulting group in London, where he worked for three years. And there are also two annual sojourns timed around his June birthday and New Year's Eve.He may no longer have that luxury.His first litmus test is only days away with elections in Gujarat on December 9 and 14. The results for both the polls in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat will be out on December 18.Top Congress leaders say Rahul Gandhi's leadership of the party would be established if he delivers a victory in Gujarat or at least substantially improves the Congress tally.Gandhi's past electoral record has not been too good. Maybe not so impetuous or naive, but reasoned and rational.The normally taciturn Manmohan Singh yesterday called Rahul Gandhi the "darling of the Congress" after he filed his nomination.It is now up to Rahul Gandhi to prove he is indeed one.

Source: Times of India December 05, 2017 14:03 UTC