New Delhi: Senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge officially took charge as Congress President today. Congress party centre election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry handed over the certificate of election as the Congress President to Mallikarjun Kharge. He is the first non-Gandhi to take charge as Congress president in 24 years. Karge defeated Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor in a direct poll for the party's President post. Before taking oath as the party President, Mallikarjun Kharge visited Rajghat and paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi and paid a visit to the memorials of Indira Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Jagjivan Ram.
