New Delhi:
Sonia Gandhi has been re-elected the Congress chief for a record fourth time. She was re-elected unopposed. (
See pics: The political journey of Sonia Gandhi)
Her name was announced at a ceremony at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi on Friday.
Addressing the party workers after her re-election, Sonia said, "It's a great responsibility and I thank all Congress workers. Whether we are in power or not we should always work for the oppressed." (
See: Sonia Gandhi's life in pictures)
The process of her re-election as Congress president was set in motion on Thursday with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi besides several prominent party leaders proposing her name for the top post.
The leaders who proposed her name included party chief ministers - Sheila Dikshit of Delhi, Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan and Bhupinder Singh Hooda of Haryana - as also several senior leaders and ministers.
Gandhi has created a record for the longest tenure as Congress chief by steering the party since April 1998 when she replaced the late Sitaram Kesri.
Only once she had to face a contest with senior leader Jitendra Prasada throwing his hat in the ring a decade back but she had defeated him.