Ever since his appointment as Congress general secretary three years back, Rahul Gandhi has been quite vocal about the need to do away with the culture of nomination and sycophancy in the party. But no lessons seem to have been learnt, as senior party leaders competed with each other while singing the praises of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul at the AICC meeting today.

Sonia was seen shaking her head in dismay as senior party leader Girija Vyas hailed her as the "pride of India, pride of the world and pride of womanhood". Vyas also quoted Rahul's remarks that whenever he meets a countryman, he sees only "Indian-ness".

Kerala PCC chief Ramesh Chennithala declared Rahul as the next premier even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh watched the proceedings silently. "(In 2014) the government will be formed for the third time under Congress leadership, and it has to be formed under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi," he said.

"Rahulji is such a person who spends nights in jhuggis and does manual labour by lifting buckets (with other labourers at a site in Rajasthan). This could be done only by the son of Rajiv and Sonia," said Delhi PCC chief JP Agrawal.

Even Meenakshi Natarajan, who has been witness to Rahul's refrain about his dislike for sycophancy, emphasised Sonia's "tyag aur balidaan".

The PM was more dignified in his appreciation. Saying that the Congress would play a key role in tackling Naxalism and terrorism, Singh said "it is our good fortune that to do all this we have the leadership of Soniaji".

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee also made a discreet reference to Sonia's "sacrifice", saying she had demonstrated the "highest quality of sacrifice by not occupying the highest ofice". He also mentioned how the "dynamic leadership of Rahul Gandhi" would bring "a new era of inclusive participation".

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