Sonia Gandhi said the Congress faces many challenges but with unity and strength it will move forward to tackle them as it has done before
Sonia Gandhi said the Congress faces many challenges but with unity and strength it will move forward to tackle them as it has done before
Veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge formally took over as Congress president on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, after he was handed over the certificate of election to the top post at a function at the AICC headquarters here.
Mr. Kharge, the first non-Gandhi to head the party in 24 years, had defeated Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor in a direct contest for the president’s post in the grand old party after the Gandhis opted out of the race.
Challenges aplenty for Congress president-elect Mallikarjun Kharge
Mr. Kharge was handed over the certificate of election as the Congress president by the party’s central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry.
Mr. Mistry said he hoped other parties will draw a lesson from the Congress and hold polls for party presidency by secret ballot.
Ahead of his taking over, Mr. Kharge visited Rajghat and paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi. He also visited the memorials of former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi and former deputy prime minister Jagjivan Ram, and paid tributes to the leaders.
Congress will be strengthened by Kharge’s leadership: Sonia Gandhi
The Congress faces many challenges but with unity and strength it will move forward to tackle them as it has done before, outgoing party chief Sonia Gandhi said.
Speaking at an event where Mallikarjun Kharge formally took over as the Congress president after he was handed over the certificate of election to the top post, Ms. Gandhi said she is confident that the Congress will be inspired and strengthened by his leadership.
She said it is her biggest satisfaction that the new Congress president is very experienced and has risen from being an ordinary worker to such heights through his hardwork.
Ms. Gandhi said she did her duty as Congress president to the best of her ability and was feeling relieved as she would now be free from this responsibility.
The Congress faces many challenges but with full strength and unity “we have to move forward and succeed” she said.
Tharoor pledges ‘full support’ to Kharge
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who lost out to Mr. Kharge in the party’s presidential race, pledged his full support and cooperation to the new AICC chief in taking the party forward.
Mr. Tharoor, who attended the event, in a tweet said, “Gathered for a brief chat after Kharge ji sat in his new office for a symbolic moment. Pledged him my full support & cooperation in taking Congress forward.”
He also posted a picture sitting with Mr. Kharge and Ms. Gandhi after the ceremony at the party headquarters.
Earlier, Mr. Tharoor congratulated Mr. Kharge on his official assumption of the duties of the Congress president, and wished him success.