Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

New Delhi: Today in a generational shift at the top in the Congress, the power to helm the party given to Rahul Gandhi, as he was announced as the new president of the grand old party.

While addressing a press conference, Mullappally Ramachandran, the chairman of the Congress central election authority, announced: “Rahul Gandhi has been elected Congress president unopposed.”

His mother and Congress’ longest-serving president Sonia Gandhi is likely to formally hand over the baton to him on December 16.

The 47-year-old Gandhi will be the sixth Nehru-Gandhi scion to helm the party.

In all, over 90 sets of nominations were said to have been filed supporting Gandhi before the deadline expired at 3 pm on December 04. Had there been any contest, today (December 11) would have been the last date for withdrawal. Since there was no other nomination, Rahul was declared elected today.

While ceremony would cursor the dawn of a new era in the party which has ruled the country for over half-a-century since independence, the 47-year-old scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family will face the daunting task of restoring lost glory to the party whose fortunes have been dwindling in the recent past.

The certificate appointing him the party president will be handed over to Rahul Gandhi on 16 December in the presence of Sonia Gandhi and other senior leaders.

Sonia Gandhi will officially hand over the mantle of the 132-year-old party to her son at around 11 am after which Rahul Gandhi will meet leaders from across the country at the Congress’s headquarters, party sources said.

By brijesh