New-Delhi: The newly elected president of Congress party Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday took charge of the post of President at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in Delhi.
Kharge has become the first non-Gandhi president of the Congress party after 24 years. He is also the second Dalit president of Congress in five decades after Jagjivan Ram in 1970.
Kharge had defeated Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor in a direct contest for the president’s post.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former chief Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were also present at the event along with other several top party leaders.
Ahead of officially taking charge, Kharge visited Rajghat and paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi. He also visited the memorials of former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi and paid tributes to them.
Congress president is an arts graduate from a government college in Kalaburagi and even holds a law certificate. Kharge joined Congress in the year 1969 and became the president of the Kalaburagi Town Congress Committee the same year.
Ms Kalinga