Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday took charge as Congress general secretary, a post to which he was appointed on Monday in a major party reshuffle that is expected to prepare the organisation for the next Lok Sabha elections.
As the celebrations continued outside the AICC headquarters, Rahul walked the short distance from the adjoining 10, Janpath, residence of his mother and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to the party office for a brief interaction with senior leaders and other office-bearers.
The 37-year-old Rahul was accompanied by his mother to the party office, where a room, currently occupied by senior leader Janardan Dwivedi, is being readied for him. He went to Gandhi's room also.
His introduction to the senior leaders took place in the committee room of the party and the short meeting was dominated by discussions on India's victory in the inaugural T-20 world cup and comparisons were drawn between the AICC reshuffle and the young team under M S Dhoni.
In the meeting, a senior leader remarked how on the very day the Congress brought in a young team into its top brass, a young Indian team won the world cup in cricket's newest version.
It was an informal interaction and all the leaders welcomed Rahul into the party leadership, a senior leader said.
Rahul himself did not interact with the media and immediately left for the 7 Race Course Road residence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for a courtesy call on him.
Earlier in the day, Rahul had called on Home Minister Shivraj Patil.
A large number of party activists had gathered at the party office to welcome Rahul, and they erupted into slogans like "Hamara Neta Kaisa Ho, Rahul Gandhi Jaisa Ho" and "Rahul Gandhi Zindabad, Sonia Gandhi Zindabad" as soon as they saw him.
Rahul was also included in the publicity committee and a new "Group to Look into Future Challenges".
There had been a long-standing demand from a large number of party leaders that the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family take up a more active role in the organisation.
"The spirit of youth was reflected yesterday afternoon when Rahul Gandhi took over an important position and Dhoni and his team delivered a magnificent victory to India," AICC spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said.
"I have no doubt that Rahul Gandhi will return the compliment by decisively winning the next big match," he said.
Besides Rahul, the other young leaders who have found places in the AICC secretariat include Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ajay Maken, Priya Dutt, Milind Deora, Sachin Pilot, Jitin Prasad and Sandeep Dikshit.
Meanwhile, celebrations continued for the second consecutive day today outside the Congress headquarters, with partymen bursting crackers and dancing to drumbeats to thank the party chief for appointing Rahul as the AICC general secretary.
The party headquarters and the adjoining 10-Janpath wore a festive look with party activists, especially from the Youth Congress and NSUI, taking out processions.
