NEW DELHI: Marking a generational shift in the Congress, 47-year-old scion of the Gandhi family Rahul Gandhi, who represents Amethi in the Lok Sabha, was on Monday announced as the new President of the party. 

Addressing a press conference, Mullappally Ramachandran, the chairman of the Congress central election authority, announced: “Rahul Gandhi has been elected Congress president unopposed.”

The baton will be formally handed over on December 16 to the newly-elected President by Sonia Gandhi, his mother who has earned the distinction of longest serving chief of the party. Rahul Gandhi will be the sixth scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family to preside over the affairs of the grand old party. 

A total of  90 sets of nominations were said to have been filed supporting Rahul Gandhi before the deadline expired on December 4. Since there was no other nomination, Rahul Gandhi was declared elected on Monday.