Rahul is Cong chief, to take charge on Dec 16

NEWDELHI: The Congress on Monday declared Rahul Gandhi as its president in an elevation that marks a generational shift in the country’s oldest political party .

The 47-year-old leader was elected unopposed and will replace his mother Sonia Gandhi. The change of guard brings down the curtains on more than 19 years of uninterrupted tenure of Sonia, who holds the record of being the longest-serving Congress president after assuming the post on March 14, 1998.

“Since the withdrawal of date/ time is over and as there is only one candidate, as per Article XVII (d) of the Constitution of Indian National Congress, I hereby declare Shri Rahul Gandhi elected as president of the Indian National Congress,” returning officer Mullappally Ramachandran said.

Ramachandran told reporters Rahul will receive the certificate of election from the party’s poll panel during a ceremony at the Congress headquarters in Delhi on December 16.

He said as many as 89 sets of valid nomination papers proposing Rahul’s name for the post were received by the party’s central election authority that oversaw the organisational polls. He had filed his papers on December 4. Rahul’s elevation comes nearly five years after he was anointed as the Congress vice-president in January 2013. He is the sixth member of the Nehru-Gandhi family to occupy the top post in the 131-year-old party. The announcement, which came in the absence of Rahul who is campaigning in Gujarat, was received by Congress supporters by bursting of crackers, waving of party flag and beating of drums.

Slogans such as “Agla Pradhan Mantri Kaisa Ho, Rahul Gandhi Jaisa Ho. (How should our next Prime Minister be… he should be like Rahul Gandhi) and Long Live Rahul Gandhi” rented the air outside the party office at 24, Akbar Road.

“The entire Indian National Congress family would like to convey our best wishes to incoming President Rahul Gandhi, and wish him a successful tenure as he continues to lead from the front,” the party said on its official Twitter handle.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also wished Rahul on his elevation.

Rahul will be the face of the party in the 2019 parliamentary elections.

His party faced one of its worst ever electoral drubbings in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and barely managing to win 44 seats. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had then led an aggressive campaign to oust the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government after 10 years in power. Rahul’s daunting task will be to revive and rebuild the Congress to make it fighting fit for the 2019 elections. A good show in Gujarat, where he is leading the party campaign, will certainly give a good start to his new innings.

“The entire country has lots of expectations from Rahul Gandhi. He has shown his mettle much before he was elected,” senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said.