Rahul Gandhi Departs, Congress Braces For Non-Gandhi Chief: List of Non-Nehru, Non-Gandhi Party Presidents Since 1947

New Delhi, July 4: Weeks after insisting over his decision to quit, Congress president Rahul Gandhi has officially stepped down from the post, handing over his resignation with immediate effect to the party on Wednesday. With the departing Gandhi scion stressing that his mother or sister would not assume the role, decks are cleared for a non-Gandhi leader to take over the reigns of the party.

This would be the first time after 21 years that a member from outside the Congress' "first family" would be heading the grand old party. Speculations are rife that the post could be awarded to either veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge or ex-Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, reports have also propped up the name of longtime party treasurer Motilal Vora. Rahul Gandhi Officially Resigns, Takes Blame For Lok Sabha Debacle; Read Full Resignation Letter.

Notably, the Congress has been led by 13 non-Gandh presidents since 1947, when the country attained independence. Among them, the tenure of UN Dhebar was the longest -- between 1955-59.

Full List of Congress Presidents From Outside The Gandhi Family:

• J. B. Kripalani

Among the first Congress rebels post-independence, Kripalani was elected as the Congress president at the conference held before independence. He continued to remain on the post till 1948. In 1950, he lost the election for party president post, and subsequently quit to form his own Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party.

• Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya

Sitaramayya was elected as the Congress president with support from Nehru in 1948, after the tenure of Kripalani ended. His tenure lasted for two years, till 1950.

• Purushottam Das Tandon

Considered close to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Purushottam Das Tandon had in 1950 defeated Kripalani in the internal polls for party president post. His tenure witnessed a friction with Nehru on the issue of secularism as well as the promotion of Sanskritised-version of Hindi. He eventually resigned from the post and paved for Nehru to takeover as the Congress chief for next four years.

• U. N. Dhebar

A loyal Congress leader till his demise, Dhebar was first entrusted with the task of heading the party in 1955, and was subsequently chosen in the annual internal elections till 1959. He was succeeded by Indira Gandhi, who headed the party till 1960.

• Neelam Sanjiva Reddy

Reddy, who later went on to serve as the President of India between 1977-1982, headed the Congress between 1960-64.

• K. Kamaraj

Arguably the Congress' tallest leader from southern India, Kamaraj headed the party at national-level between 1964-68. This was a turbulent period as the nation was hit by the demise of then PM Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, followed by the sudden death of his successor Lal Bahadur Shastri.

• S. Nijalingappa

Nijalingappa succeeded Kamaraj and headed the party between 1968-70. He was the final president of the undivided Congress, and had to oversee the split between Congress (Ruling) which supported Indira Gandhi and Congress (Organization) -- comprised of old guard leaders opposed to the then Gandhi scion.

• Jagjivan Ram

Then an Indira Gandhi loyalist, Jagjivan Ram took over the party reigns in 1970, and continued at the post till 1972. During his tenure, the Congress faction led by Indira Gandhi triumphed to power.

• Shankar Dayal Sharma

Sharma took over in 1972 and continued as Congress president till 1974. He left the post after being inducted into the Cabinet by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Sharma, in 1992, went on to become the 9th President of India.

• Dev Kant Baruah

Baruah headed the Congress party between 1975-77 -- the years in which Emergency had been proclaimed across the nation by Indira Gandhi.

• Kasu Brahmananda Reddy

Reddy, the former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, was entrusted to head the party after it faced its worst rout in the 1977 Lok Sabha elections. Under his tenure, however, Congress regained the lost grounds and stormed back to power in 1979.

After Indira Gandhi became the PM, she held the party president post till her assassination in 1984. After her demise, Indira's son Rajiv Gandhi held the post till 1991, when he was killed by LTTE militants.

• Narsimha Rao

Rao, who was elected as the Prime Minister in 1991, was also appointed as the Congress chief. He held the post till the end of his tenure in 1996.

• Sitaram Kesri

After the Congress' rout in 1996 general elections, Rao relinquished the party president's post. Subsequently, Sitaram Kesri was appointed to the post, despite voices within the party calling for Sonia Gandhi's takeover.

Ahead of the 1999 elections, Sonia Gandhi replaced Kesri as party leaders openly called for a party takeover by the Gandhi family.

After serving as party chief for 19 years, Sonia resigned from the post and paved the way for her son, Rahul Gandhi.

Despite leading the party with negligible dissidence over the last two years, Gandhi decided to quit following the humiliating loss of the Congress in Lok Sabha elections 2019.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 04, 2019 02:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).