Regardless of the fact that Congress president Sonia Gandhi will not be present to witness the event, Praja Rajyam Party president K Chiranjeevi will complete the formalities of the long-pending PRP-Congress by taking membership of the Congress party in New Delhi on 20 August.
According to sources, Chiranjeevi will take the membership on 20 August in the presence of All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi.
Following Chiranjeevi formally joining the Congress fold, the other PRP MLAs will join the Congress on August 22 in the presence of Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanarayana, at Gandhi Bhavan.
With Sonia Gandhi away from New Delhi due to her surgery for an undisclosed ailment, the party sources said Chiranjeevi has decided to go ahead with the merger of his party in the presence of Rahul Gandhi, to avoid further delay.
Earlier, Sonia Gandhi had written to Chiranjeevi, inviting him to come to New Delhi between 7 and 10 August to complete the merger.
Chiranjeevi had announced his desire to merge his party with the Congress on 6 February 2011, less than 3 years of his forming the Praja Rajyam Party. (INN)