NEW DELHI: Mallikarjun Kharge has taken charge as the new president of the Congress at a ceremony held in New Delhi. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi congratulated Kharge on assuming the position of Congress president. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal and others were present on the occasion.

It was after 24 years that someone from outside the Nehru family became the Congress president. Kharge defeated the opposition candidate Shashi Tharoor MP with a huge majority, winning 7897 votes while Shashi Tharoor got only 1072 votes. Kharge, a senior leader from Karnataka and former Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, is also the most important Dalit leader of the Congress. A nine-time MLA, he is also a trusted leader of the High Command. Kharge became a prominent national leader of the Congress after 2014. He has held important positions in Parliament and national politics, holding positions such as Leader of the Lok Sabha and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.