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All
clear for Sonia to become PM
Newly elected Congress lawmakers banged their tables in the timber-panelled central hall of parliament, as the unanimous decision was announced two days after Gandhi's shock election win over the ruling Hindu nationalists. "I feel deeply humbled, I feel greatly privileged," she said, dressed in a cream sari and standing under life-sized portraits of former prime ministers, including her slain husband Rajiv, mother-in-law Indira and Indira's father Jawaharlal Nehru. "I thank the people of India from my heart. We have succeeded against all odds, we have prevailed despite all predictions of disaster. There is now a momentum generated by our revival, let us not squander it. We must utilise it as a catalyst for change." Congress' election of Gandhi as its parliamentary leader was expected and means that, having already secured the support of key allies, she will be prime minister, barring any last minute hitches with new political partners. Key Congress allies, the Communist Party of India Marxist (CPI-M) and the Communist Party of India (CPI), also said they supported the 57-year-old Gandhi becoming the fourth member of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty to hold the post. |
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