Kharge to formally take over as Congress president today

Hectic preparations were underway at the Congress headquarters for Wednesday’s ceremony where party president Sonia Gandhi will hand over the baton to her successor, Mallikarjun Kharge, the first non-Gandhi to head the outfit in 24 years.Kharge defeated Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor in a direct contest for the top post in the grand old party after the Gandhis opted out of the race.Security personnel and workers made last-minute arrangements on the AICC headquarters lawns where a tent was being put up and in the Congress president’s office room.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.Kharge, 80, takes charge of the party at a time when it faces a tough challenge from a formidable BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi which has ousted the Congress from many states.For Kharge, who has served as a leader of the opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, leader of Congress in Lok Sabha and later leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha, the current assignment comes at a time when the party is at a historic low, electorally.With the Congress now remaining in power in only two states — Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh — on its own and in partnership as a junior partner in Jharkhand, Kharge’s first challenge is to bring the party to power in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, which go to polls in the next few weeks.Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh are on November 12 but the dates for Gujarat are yet to be announced.