New Delhi: Elaborate preparations were underway at the Congress headquarters where Senior party leader Mallikarjun Kharge is set to formally take over as Congress president today in a ceremony where Sonia Gandhi, party’s interim chief, will hand over the certificate of election and the baton.
Mallikarjun Kharge, first non-Gandhi to head the Grand Old Party in 24 years, defeated Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor in a direct contest for the party top post after the Gandhis opted out of the race and after Ashok Gehlot also pulled out of contention following a fiasco.
Ahead of his taking over, Kharge called on former prime minister Manmohan Singh at his residence and spent some time with him.
Kharge paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat and also visited memorial of former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Chairman of the central election authority of the Congress Madhusudan Mistry will formally hand over the election certificate to Kharge at the function, which will also see the presence of outgoing chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
Mallikarjun Kharge, 80, who was elected as the first non-Gandhi party chief on October 19 after Sitaram Kesari’s tenure (1996-1998), has seen many successful seasons as a politician, but his struggle in life began at a young age of seven. Kharge lost his mother and sister in a fire set off by the Razakars or the private militia of the Nizam of Hyderabad, while he himself had a narrow escape.
The tragic incident that took place in 1948 was undisclosed until recently.
The Razakars had gone on a rampage, plundered and attacked houses across the region, which was then called Hyderabad state. Bhalki, in the modern-day Bidar district of Karnataka, like several other villages up to Maharashtra, was under siege.
