India's main opposition Congress party in throes of crisis

By appointing Sonia Gandhi as interim president, India’s oldest political party seems to have sent a message that it can’t survive without the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.

Political analysts say the main opposition Congress party lost an opportunity to position itself as a truly democratic party and get rid of an image of being driven by one particular family.

Sonia Gandhi took back the reins of the party from her son Rahul on Saturday. She’ll be interim president until the party elects a new leader.

The party accepted the resignation of Rahul Gandhi, who quit in July after the party’s crushing defeat in recent national elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party won 303 of 542 seats in the lower house of Parliament, while the Congress party won just 52.