Sonia Gandhi to hoist tricolour on I-Day at Congress headquarter

Newly-appointed president of Congress, Sonia Gandhi, will hoist the national flag at Congress headquarters here to mark Independence Day on Thursday morning.

Preparations are in full swing at the party office for the national festival here.

Talking to ANI, AICC Secretary Pranav Jha said that the party will celebrate the national festival with great spirit.

The celebration programme will be attended by senior Congress leaders including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi, Ahmed Patel, Gulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Moti Lal Vohra.

President of the Congress hoists the national flag on national festivals at party headquarters here.

On Saturday, Sonia Gandhi was elevated to interim Congress president following months of stalemate over the selection of the new party president necessitated by the resignation of Rahul Gandhi in June.

Rahul had announced to step down from his post taking moral responsibility of the party's crushing defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. Even as several senior party leader repeatedly tried to persuade Rahul to take back his decision but to no avail.

Sonia Gandhi was appointed as interim president after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) failed to reach any name to succeed Rahul.

In a related development, hoardings featuring Rahul Gandhi were replaced with that of Sonia Gandhi in and outside the party headquarters.

A nameplate of Rahul Gandhi as Congress president was also replaced with Sonia Gandhi's name at the party office.