Sonia goes abroad for medical checkup

Ruling Congress Party chief Sonia Gandhi has gone abroad for a “regular checkup” after undergoing surgery for an undisclosed condition last year, a party official said yesterday. Gandhi, 65, the widow of assassinated former premier Rajiv Gandhi and widely seen as India’s most powerful politician, holds the key power-broking position of president of the party. “You may recall in February 2012 that the president had gone abroad for a regular checkup,” Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi told reporters. “She has travelled abroad this afternoon again for a regular checkup and will be back after a week,” he added. He did not disclose where she had gone. The last time she went overseas for a checkup she travelled to the US. She had then set up a group comprising Defence Minister A K Antony, her son and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi, her political secretary Ahmed Patel and Dwivedi to look after party affairs in her absence.Gandhi’s departure comes at a critical time as the Congress-led government is embroiled in a crisis over allegations that it gave away billions of dollars in coal mining rights. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other opposition parties have blocked parliamentary proceedings for over a week, demanding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s resignation over the coalfield allocations. The condition that led to Gandhi’s surgery last year - and kept her out of the country for five weeks - has never been revealed. Right up to her departure, Gandhi was vigorously seeking to end the parliamentary logjam, holding a strategy session with Singh and speaking to BJP leader Sushma Swaraj. However, Swaraj told her that the BJP would maintain its stand on the issue, sources said.Gandhi is widely seen as preparing the ground for her 42-year-old son to take over after Singh steps down. The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has ruled India for most of its post-independence history, with three members of the family becoming prime minister.