Sonia flies out for surgery, Rahul to jointly run party

New Delhi -  Congress president Sonia Gandhi has gone abroad to undergo an operation for an undisclosed medical condition, nominating her son Rahul Gandhi and three senior party leaders to run the party during the two or three weeks she will be away.

The Congress did not say where the 64-year-old Sonia Gandhi, also chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), was being treated, though party sources said she was in the US. The sources did not say when she left India.

Sonia Gandhi, in a written statement read out by Congress chief spokesperson Janardhan Dwivedi, said during her absence, a four-member panel including Rahul Gandhi, Defence Minister A.K. Antony, her long-time political secretary, Ahmed Patel, and party general secretary Dwivedi will be running the party.

The group will take care of the party in my absence, Sonia Gandhi said from an undisclosed location.

Dwivedi said she would undergo surgery Friday or Saturday, contradicting his own earlier statement that the operation had already been performed.

"Smt Sonia Gandhi has been recently diagnosed with a medical condition that requires surgery. On advice from her doctors, she has travelled abroad and she is likely to be away for two to three weeks,” Dwivedi said.

Congress sources said she had an abdomen-related ailment amid speculation that Sonia Gandhi was suffering from cancer. Dwivedi, however, said that it was not cancer, but an ailment that required surgery.

Sonia Gandhi's mother and sister, Rahul Gandhi and daughter Priyanka Vadra are also understood to have accompanied Gandhi.

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 July 25 during which she received, on behalf of her mother-in-law, Bangladesh' highest state honour for Indira Gandhi's contribution to the liberation struggle.

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.

The Congress party was, however, silent about her medical condition and other details relating to her treatment.

“Public personalities are entitled to a certain amount of privacy, especially when it concerns a medical condition,” party spokesperson Manish Tewari told journalists.