NEW DELHI: Senior politician Mallikarjun Kharge has taken over charge as the new national president of the Congress party.
Mallikarjun Kharge had won the Congress president election last week, beating his rival Shashi Tharoor.
Kharge is the first non-Gandhi to assume the post of Congress president in over two decades.
Soon after taking charge as the national president of the Congress party, Mallikarjun Kharge vowed to fight the BJP and break its “system of lies, hoax and hatred”.
Meanwhile, Sonia Gandhi – after handing over responsibilities of the party to Kharge – said that she now feels ‘relieved’ and “free of responsibilities”.
“I did my duty to the best of my ability. Today, I will be freed of this responsibility. A weight is off my shoulder. I feel a sense of relief,” Sonia Gandhi said.
“This was a big responsibility. The responsibility is now on Mallikarjun Kharge,” she said.
“The Congress faces many challenges. The challenge is how we face it. With full strength, unity, we have to move forward and succeed,” Sonia Gandhi told a gathering of Congress leaders.