NEW DELHI
\nIndia\u2019s Congress party on Wednesday appointed an octogenarian ex-minister as its first president in 24 years not from the Gandhi dynasty, in an effort to reverse its apparent decline into political oblivion.
\nMallikarjun Kharge, 80, was elected by members to replace Sonia Gandhi as president of the once-mighty party that helped win India\u2019s independence from Britain 75 years ago.
\nThe Indian National Congress governed India for decades after independence in 1947 but is now a shadow of its former self, discredited and crushed under the electoral juggernaut of Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
\nThe Gandhi family is not related to India\u2019s independence icon Mahatma Gandhi, but descended from the country\u2019s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
\nNehru was the father of prime minister Indira Gandhi, assassinated in 1984.
\nShe was the mother of Rajiv Gandhi, killed by a suicide bomber in 1991.
\nThe party was last in power nationally from 2004 to 2014 under prime minister Manmohan Singh.
\nThe BJP thrashed Congress in the last two elections, with Modi deriding party president Rahul Gandhi (son of Rajiv and Sonia) as an out-of-touch princeling and playboy.
\nAfter the latest defeat in 2019, Rahul Gandhi resigned as party president and handed the reins back to his Italian-born mother Sonia, now 75, who was first appointed to the role in 1998.
\nKharge, a former railways and labour minister who is from the Dalit community, was born five years before independence and is widely believed to have the backing of both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.
\nRahul Gandhi said on Wednesday that Kharge is now the supreme authority in the party and that he \u201cwill decide my role in the party\u201d.
\n\u201cHis vast experience and ideological commitment will serve the party well as he takes on this historic responsibility,\u201d he added on Twitter.
\nBut despite stepping back, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are expected to continue pulling the strings from behind the scenes.
\nKharge, who is four months older than US President Joe Biden, now faces the mammoth challenge of winning the next national election, due in 2024, and three state elections next year.
\nKharge faced off against Shashi Tharoor, 66, a former under-secretary general of the United Nations, who campaigned for \u201cchange\u201d in the party.
\nThe successful author has been scathing of British colonialism and said in 2017 that Winston Churchill \u201chas as much blood on his hands as some of the worst genocidal dictators of the 20th century\u201d.
\nTharoor conceded defeat on Twitter and said that being Congress president was a \u201cgreat honour and a huge responsibility\u201d, wishing Kharge \u201call success in the task\u201d.
\nThe party was reduced to just 53 seats in the 543-member lower house of parliament after the last national election, which was swept by the BJP with 303 seats.
\nA decision to elect a non-Gandhi president showed that Congress was \u201cweary of criticism from BJP and Modi\u201d, Rasheed Kidwai, a fellow at the Observer Research Foundation and close watcher of the party for years, told AFP.
\nHe added that there was a \u201cfair chance\u201d that Kharge may turn around the party\u2019s fortunes.
\n\u201cHe may be 80 but is in good health and a workaholic. He meets party leaders about state and regional issues. He can provide a healing touch to the party ranks,\u201d Kidwai said.
\n\u201cBut ultimately, in an electoral democracy what matters is winning elections.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI India\u2019s Congress party on Wednesday appointed an octogenarian ex-minister as its first president in 24 years not from the Gandhi dynasty, in an effort to reverse its apparent decline into political oblivion. Mallikarjun Kharge, 80, was elected by members to replace Sonia Gandhi as president of the once-mighty party that helped win India\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290401,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-290381","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n