New Delhi: The strains of ‘Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram’, Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite bhajan, waft through the corridors of 24 Akbar Road as a steady stream of Congress leaders from across the country flows into the party headquarters over the course of the morning.
Priyank Kharge — son of the new Congress president, Mallikarjun Kharge — is overseeing preparations, ensuring everything’s in place and guests are comfortably seated. The usual slogans hailing Rahul Gandhi are conspicuous by their absence.
It’s a historic day for the 137-year-old party as Kharge — not only its first non-Gandhi president in 24 years but also only the third Dalit leader ever to be at its helm — takes over from interim president Sonia Gandhi .
Kharge won the party’s 17 October presidential election by 7,897 votes, 6,825 more than his opponent, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor — who is, incidentally, one of the first people to arrive at the event.
In the audience, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot are seated far away from one another, as are Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and his health minister, T.S.Singh Deo. Also in the audience is Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
On the stage, outgoing Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul — who has taken a break from the Bharat Jodo Yatra to attend the function — sit with Kharge, K.C.Venugopal, and Ajay Maken. Also on stage are members of the Congress’s Central Election Authority.
A visibly happy Sonia announces that she’s “relieved” to be handing over the party’s responsibility.
ThePrint’s national photo editor Praveen Jain brings you pictures from the event.
