Who will take over the tasks of the prime minister and oversee the functioning of the government during the third week of September?

This is the question that is being discussed in the corridors of power in Delhi, as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be in the United States from September 21 to September 28 to attend the United Nations General Assembly session.

United Progressive Alliance trouble-shooter and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will also be away, in Washington, to attend a meet of international funding agencies.

Incidentally, when the PM had undergone a surgery in January 2009 and when he was away in Bangladesh during the Delhi high court blast, Mukherjee had presided over emergency meetings of the Cabinet.

The core committee of the Congress has formulated a strategy of entrusting major responsibilities to either Defence Minister A K Antony or Home Minister P Chidambaram during the absence of the prime minister and the finance minister.

The PM is expected to ask one of the two senior Union ministers, in writing, to coordinate urgent matters like convening meetings of the Cabinet and the Cabinet Committee on Security during his absence.

As Congress president Sonia Gandhi has not been keeping well and Rahul Gandhi is yet to formally take over the political leadership of the party, the Congress might face some major problems in the forthcoming weeks.