The leading party in South Sudan said Wednesday that it was withdrawing its candidate for the presidency in elections that begin April 11.
Mr Schröder must have hoped that it would start bickering over its candidate for chancellor and its programme, as it has often done before.
So it argues that under new rules its candidate for the job - Mr Juncker - must be considered first.
Now it is blaming "French influence" for the defeat of its candidate for the AU's top post.
Although Congress has named Mr Gandhi, 43, to lead its general election campaign, it has stopped short of saying he will be its candidate for prime minister.
Last week it nominated Miroslava Nemcova, the speaker of the lower house, as its candidate for prime minister.
Its candidate for chancellor is Peer Steinbrück.
L.K. Advani, its candidate for prime minister, is 80.
And its candidate for president of Serbia, Zoran Lilic, failed to win Serbia's presidency outright.
In June 2012 the Congress Party chose Mukherjee as its candidate for the Indian presidency.
The party will need to choose its candidate for mayor of London.
