Sonia recovering; mixed views in party on secrecy

Congress president Sonia Gandhi is recovering in the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital where she underwent successful surgery on August 4 for an undisclosed medical condition, the party announced on Friday. In the Congress, there were mixed views on the secrecy: one party member said, “In no other democracy would there be such secrecy about the medical condition of a political party's seniormost leader — party workers are worried and concerned: there should be medical bulletins to reassure them.” And there was speculation on the significance of the names of the committee that Ms. Gandhi has constituted to take care of the party in her absence. While the names of Mr. Rahul Gandhi and that of Ms. Gandhi's Political Secretary Ahmed Patel evoked no surprise, the other two names — Defence Minister A.K. The inclusion of Mr. Antony — who, like Mr. Patel, is a member of the Congress Core Group — was seen both as an affirmation of the trust Ms. Gandhi has in him, as in the fact that the other members of the Core Group — particularly Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee — would be too busy to keep an eye on the party as well. Message to Digvijay As for the inclusion of Mr. Dwivedi, party insiders say his appointment is “a message to Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh,” whose public statements have often caused consternation.