After steering Congress for 19 years, Sonia Gandhi to pass baton to Rahul Gandhi today

NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi on Saturday is set to receive a formal certificate of being elected the Congress president unopposed from the party's central election authority at a function at the AICC headquarters on Saturday.

The 47-year-old Rahul Gandhi formally takes over the reins of the grand old party two days before the counting of votes for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections.

Former PM Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, current and former chief ministers, MPs, senior Congress leaders, and all PCC chiefs and delegates will be present at the handing over ceremony.

Rahul Gandhi has been elected unopposed as Congress president, partys central election authority head Mullappally Ramachandran had announced on December 11.

In his first address after being elected the party chief, he said his party will put pressure on the government to pass women reservation bill in the Parliament.

"We have to work on transforming the Congress party, and a fundamental part of it is going to be the role of women in the Congress party at every single level," said Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi had been the party vice president for over four years since 2013.

Rahul's main challenge remains the revamping of party organisation, apart from electoral battles in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Meanwhile, Sonia Gandhi on Friday said it was time for her to retire, triggering immediate speculation about her future plans, but the Congress party sought to quell it saying she has only retired from the party chief's role and not from politics.

Sonia Gandhi has retired as Congress president and not from politics, party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.

Surjewala tweeted: "Would sincerely request friends in the media to not rely upon innuendos."

"Sonia Gandhi has retired as president of Indian National Congress and not from politics. Her blessings, wisdom and innate commitment to Congress ideology shall always be our guiding light," he said in another tweet.

Sonia Gandhi, who became Congress president in 1998, steered the 132-year-old party for 19 years.