Mallikarjun Kharge visits Rajghat ahead of taking charge as Congress president

New Delhi: Veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday visited Rajghat and paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi, ahead of formally taking over as the party president.

Kharge, accompanied by Congress leaders Ajay Maken, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief Anil Chaudhary and Youth Congress chief Srinivas BV, among others, paid floral tributes at the memorial of the Father of the Nation.

“The newly elected Congress president, Kharge ji, reached Rajghat before taking oath today and paid homage to revered Bapu. The path shown by Mahatma Gandhi is guiding not only the Congress, but the country and the world even today,” the Congress said in a tweet in Hindi.

Kharge will be formally handed over the certificate of election by the Congress’ central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry and the party reins by outgoing chief Sonia Gandhi at a function at the AICC headquarters here.

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.

On Tuesday, Kharge had called on former prime minister Manmohan Singh at his residence and spent some time with him.