Rahul Gandhi becomes president of Congress party

AFP

AFP

Saturday, 16 December, 2017 02:11

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Saturday, 16 December, 2017 02:11

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New Delhi, INDIA | Rahul Gandhi became Saturday in India president of the Congress party (opposition), dedicating the arrival of the responsibilities of a new generation in the saga of the dynasty politics of Gandhi.

Aged 47, son, grandson and great-grandson of Prime ministers indian, Rahul Gandhi was formally appointed on Monday to lead the Congress. His mother, of Italian origin, Sonia has held the position for 19 years, a record for this training founded in 1885.

The transfer of power between Sonia and Rahul Gandhi during a ceremony at the headquarters of the Congress in New Delhi, which was attended by the leaders of the party including former Prime minister Manmohan Singh.

This designation marks the put in order of battle in the Congress in less than a year and a half of the next national elections. This party will be opposed to the steamroller of the hindu nationalist (BJP) of Prime minister Narendra Modi, who between them have inflicted a series of humiliations election for 2014.

Born and raised to rule, Rahul Gandhi – who once likened power to “poison” – will have the daunting task to revitalize and rejuvenate a party that is plagued with corruption and worn down by its longevity.

“The way it will manage the change in the functioning of the party will be important, such as promoting youth leaders, and overcome the criticism about its role”, said to AFP Gurpreet Mahajan, professor of political science at the Jawaharlal Nehru university of Delhi.

“If he manages to bring changes at the grassroots level it may give a new direction to a party that is struggling in the face of a BJP in a rise in power”, she added.

Although he has dominated indian politics since independence in 1947, the Congress is in loss of speed these days. He struggles to stand up to the charisma and populism of Narendra Modi and the highly efficient machinery election, his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).