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highlights
Sonia Gandhi will formally hand over the reins of the party to her son on Saturday, December 16 at 11am.
All the Congress presidents: from family to foreigners
The presidents of India's grand old party have written their own chapters in history. As the Congress gets ready to welcome its new chief, 47-year-old Rahul Gandhi, the stage is being set for a change in guard after 19 years.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad weighs in as well. “The entire country has a lot of expectations from Rahul Gandhi. Much before he was elected, he has shown his mettle. He knows his responsibility,” Azad says.
What next for Sonia?
There is also no clarity yet on what role Sonia Gandhi will play in the party that she has led for 19 years.
Senior leader M Veerappa Moily said yesterday that Sonia Gandhi would continue to “guide the destiny” of the Congress.
"She will continue to play an effective role even though she is not (Congress) president. She is always looked upon as mother of the party; not only mother to Rahul Gandhi, but also mother to the party. She will continue to inspire and nurture the Congress," he said.
No official reaction yet from Rahul Gandhi, who is campaigning in Gujarat in the hope that it will be his first success as Congress President.
With a 21% win record, can Rahul Gandhi really turn the tide?
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has been gaining traction in the poll-bound state of Gujarat.
So there you have it. It's been in the offing for months but Rahul Gandhi is now officially the Congress president, thus ending the 19-year reign of his mother Sonia. We'll have plenty of reactions and articles, so stay tuned to this blog.
Both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul had never intervened in the function of election, says Congress leader Mullappally Ramachandran.
Sonia Gandhi will formally hand over the reins of the party to her son on Saturday, December 16 at 11am.
The press conference has begun. The party spokesperson says the deadline for withdrawing nominations was 3pm today. All 89 nominations papers for Rahul Gandhi have been found valid. As the only candidate, Rahul Gandhi is declared Congress President. "This is a historic moment," says party leader MM Ramachandran.
"This is a new day and a new beginning for Rahul Gandhi. He will take us away from the fractured path of the Modi and BJP. Today starts another era for the Congress Party," says Assam MP Gaurav Gogoi.
Ahead of the formal announcement, some praise from an unlikely source: Shiv Sena. “There is a 100 percent change in his body language. It was a different Rahul Gandhi in 2014. People used to change channels when they saw him on TV. Now they don't do that. People want to listen to him. Rahul Gandhi has a huge challenge in front of him,” says party leader Sanjay Raut.
Congress workers are currently celebrating outside the party headquarters in New Delhi. Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, is busy campaigning in Gujarat.
Gandhi, however, may officially take charge on December 16 when his mother and longest-serving party president Sonia Gandhi formally hands over the baton to him, marking a generational shift in the grand old party.
The internal election was a one-horse race from the beginning with Gandhi the only one to file nomination, which was supported by 89 signatures.
Rahul Gandhi is set to be declared as the Congress chief on Monday, the last date of withdrawal of nomination in the party’s organisational elections.
The Congress’ Central Election Authority chairman Mullapally Ramachandran, and CEA members Madhusudan Mistry and Bhubaneswar Kalita will announce that Gandhi's was the only nomination for the top job on Monday. A press conference has been scheduled for 3:30pm.