Indira JI passed away, after which Rajiv Ji also passed away, my support was taken away from me and it took me a long while to come to terms with it: Sonia Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi on Saturday took over as Congress president by succeeding his mother Sonia Gandhi. It was a proud movement for the mother Sonia Gandhi who said: "Rahul is my son, so I do not think for me to praise him is right but I would say that since childhood he had to bear the brunt of the violence. After joining politics he had to face blatant personal attacks, that have made him a stronger person''. Rahul Gandhi, 47, was officially declared party president in a ceremony held at the party's 24 Akbar Road headquarters here on Saturday.
Sonia was open about the electoral drubbings Congress has faced in the recent years. "We have lost many elections, but we are not going to be bowed down. We are fighting for the spirit of the nation and we will never back out from our commitment," Sonia said while addressing the party workers and supporters.
Sonia said that since 2014 Congress has been playing the role of opposition. "The challenge that we face today, is the biggest one, our constitutional values are being attacked," she said.
Talking about the vacuum left in her life after the death of her husband Rajiv Gandhi, she shared her feeling with the party workers and said: "Indira JI passed away, after which Rajiv Ji also passed away, my support was taken away from me and it took me a long while to come to terms with it".
Sonia talked about her relationship with former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and how that relationship helped her brave the battles of life. " Indira ji accepted me as her daughter, and I learned a lot about Indian culture from her. I learned about those principles upon which the foundation of our country was laid," she said.
In 1984, Indira ji was assassinated and I felt I had lost my mother and that incident changed my life forever, said Sonia Gandhi.
Sonia Gandhi, who headed the 132-year-old Congress for the last 19 years, also thanked party leaders and workers for the support she received during her tenure as its chief.
Rahul was given the certificate of Congress president by Mullappally Ramachandran, the chairman of the party's central election authority, who oversaw the organisational polls.
The ceremony was attended by party stalwarts, including former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan and other party leaders. His sister Priyanka Gandhi and brother-in-law Robert Vadra were also present on the occasion.
Sweets were distributed, slogans raised, crackers burst and party workers danced to drum beats to celebrate the change of guard. Artists from different parts of the nation were also seen performing outside the party head office. Congress workers marched from Rail Bhavan to the party office. Sonia headed the party for 19 years since 1998.
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 "Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh")
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