Veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge formally took charge as the Congress president on Wednesday, in a ceremony which saw him thanking the party members for helping him, the "son of a labourer, a common Congress worker," to take over as chief of the party.
At the ceremony held at AICC headquarters in Delhi, Kharge was handed over the certificate of election by the party's central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry.
"It’s an emotional moment for me as the son of a labourer, a common Congress worker, has taken over as chief of the Congress party. I thank you all for this honour," he said to the party workers in his first address as the chief.
Kharge also promised to "break this system of lies and hatred that is prevailing in the country." "I know it is a difficult time, efforts are being made to change democracy established by Congress," the 80-year-old leader said.
He added that the party will uphold the "Constitution of this country, respect everyone’s rights and give equal opportunities, defeat those who spread hate, and fight inflation, unemployment and hunger."
The new chief also promised to implement the Udaipur Declaration's proposals such as 50 per cent of party posts for those below 50 years of age, filling up organisational vacancies, setting up a public insight department and election management department and establishing political affairs committee in states.
"What kind of new India is this where youth are not getting jobs, farmers are being crushed under jeeps, atrocities taking place against women are rising, people are reeling under price rise but the government is sitting with eyes closed, the government is helping a few crony capitalist friends," Kharge alleged.
"In this new India, hunger is rising, the cost of education is rising, and pollution is rising. The government is sleeping but ED, CBI are working for 24 hours for suppression. In this new India, Dalits, minorities and exploited people are being insulted and opportunities taken away from them...(Nathuram) Godse is called a patriot and (Mahatma) Gandhi is called a traitor, there are efforts to change Babasaheb's Constitution and replace it with Sangh's constitution," Kharge alleged.
Kharge also hailed Rahul Gandhi for embarking on the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which, he said, is filling the country with new energy.
Before arriving at the AICC headquarters, Kharge also visited Rajghat and paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi. He also visited the memorials of former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi and former deputy prime minister Jagjivan Ram, and paid tributes to the leaders.
Feeling relieved, says Sonia
Outgoing party chief Sonia Gandhi, who attended the meeting, said the party will move forward to tackle the challenges with unity and strength. She added that she is confident that the Congress will be inspired and strengthened by his leadership.
Adding that her biggest satisfaction is that the new Congress president is very experienced, Gandhi said she did her duty as Congress president to the best of her ability and was feeling relieved as she would now be free from this responsibility.
(With inputs from PTI)
