<i>Rahul Gandhi set to lead Congress party</i>

Rahul Gandhi, tipped to be a future prime minister of India, is set to take over as president of the country's ruling Congress party by year's end, a report said yesterday.
Rahul was named in August to a four-member panel to run the party's affairs while his mother Sonia Gandhi, who is currently party president, recovered from surgery for an undisclosed condition.
The Economic Times newspaper said several unnamed party leaders, including a cabinet minister, had confirmed to the daily that Rahul would take over the party's reins in "four to eight weeks."
Sonia Gandhi, who engineered the party's return to power in 2004, would restrict her role to providing broad directions to the party and government, the newspaper said.
Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh said on Friday "the young leader (Rahul) should now play a bigger role. Rahul has to come in the mainstream."
There has been media speculation Rahul could be appointed party chief on November 19, the birthday of his late grandmother, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.