Rahul Gandhi takes over India’s opposition Congress party
NEW DELHI — Rahul Gandhi, the scion of India’s most famous political dynasty, took over as president of the main opposition Congress party on Saturday while facing a stiff challenge from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalists.
Gandhi, who took the mantle from his mother, Sonia Gandhi, at a party function, takes over the leadership of a party that has been losing power to Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party since 2014. Gandhi’s party has suffered humiliating defeats in recent state elections despite his active campaigning to win back support.
In a speech, Sonia Gandhi described her son as a new hope for the Congress as party workers danced, burst firecrackers and distributed Indian sweets to celebrate the generational shift in the leadership.
Gandhi, 47, will be taking on Modi when the prime minister seeks a second five-year term in 2019. Modi has vowed to create a Congress-free India while working for the rise of Hindu nationalist forces.