Rahul Gandhi elected new Congress president: Here is a timeline

He was made the vice-president of the Indian National Congress in 2013.

NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi was on Monday elected unopposed as the new Congress President, taking over the reins from his mother Sonia Gandhi who was at the helm of the party affairs for 19 years.

Here is a timeline:

March 2004: Rahul Gandhi announced his entry into politics by announcing to contest the Lok Sabha elections in the same year in May from Amethi, his father's former constituency in Uttar Pradesh.

May 2004: He was elected Lok Sabha MP for the first time after winning the polls, retaining the family stronghold with a victory margin of over 1 lakh votes.

September 2007: Rahul Gandhi was appointed the general secretary of the All India Congress Committee in a reshuffle of the party secretariat.

September 2007: In the same reshuffle, he was also given charge of the Indian Youth Congress and the National Students Union of India.

January 2013: Rahul Gandhi was elevated to the position of the vice-president of the party.

May 2009: Rahul Gandhi retained his Amethi Lok Sabha seat by defeating his nearest rival by a margin of over 370,000 votes. His party won 206 seats in the general election.

May 2011: Gandhi was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police at Bhatta Parsaul village after he turned out in support of agitating farmers demanding more compensation for their land being acquired for a highway project.

2012 UP Polls: Rahul Gandhi campaigned for his party in the politically crucial Uttar Pradesh election, holding some 200 rallies. However, Congress emerged as the fourth party in the state, winning 28 seats.

May 2014: Rahul Gandhi led the Lok Sabha election campaign of the Congress Party and also for the Amethi seat. He held the seat by defeating his nearest rival, BJP's Smriti Irani, by a reduced margin of 107,000 votes.

December 2017: Rahul Gandhi was elected unopposed as the new Congress president.