India's Congress Appoints Sonia Gandhi as Head After Poll Rout

(Bloomberg) -- India main opposition Congress party has appointed Sonia Gandhi as its interim president to succeed her son Rahul Gandhi, who resigned after party’s debacle in general elections.

The Congress Working Committee, the highest decision making body of the party, said Mrs. Gandhi will head the party until a regular president is elected.

Congress party has been facing leadership crisis since Rahul Gandhi announced his resignation as president of the party in July, taking responsibility for its dismal result in national election, which saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi return for a second term with an increased majority.

The grandson of the late Indira Gandhi -- and great-grandson of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru -- lost one of the two seats he contested. Congress won a few more seats than it took in 2014, which was its worst performance since India’s independence. Sonia Gandhi is the wife of India’s late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

To contact the reporters on this story: Bibhudatta Pradhan in New Delhi at bpradhan@bloomberg.net;Anirban Nag in Mumbai at anag8@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Linus Chua at lchua@bloomberg.net, Ruth Pollard, Unni Krishnan

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