Sonia Gandhi, in an emotional farewell speech, said: "Rahul is my son, and it would not be right of me to kudos him. But I can say this, that in these testing times, Rahul has stood up to dangerous men in power. He has faced challenges with courage and will steer the party in the correct direction.

Rahul is my son, so I do not think for me to praise him is right but I would say that since childhood he had to bear the brunt of violence, after joining politics he had to face blatant personal attacks, that have made him a stronger person: Sonia Gandhi.

Since 2014 we have been playing the role of opposition, the challenge that we face today, is the biggest one, our constitutional values are being attacked, our party has also lost many elections but our party will never bow down: Sonia Gandhi.Rahul Gandhi is the fifth member of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty to lead the Congress; no one challenged his elevation in the organization election that judge describe as a sham.

Rahul Gandhi is widely expected to begin his presidency with two new defeats for the Congress, which has been struggling to win elections since it lost power at the centre in 2014.

What the Congress calls a "new era" comes two days before election results for two states that exit polls say the party won't win - Gujarat, where the BJP has ruled for 22 years, and Himachal Pradesh, which the Congress had barely won in the previous election.