Sonia Gandhi was named interim Congress president on Saturday, returning at the helm after almost 20 months.
The announcement was made Sunday night after Congress Working Committee (CWC) accepted Rahul Gandhi's resignation during its second meeting of the day.
A number of leaders, including state chiefs and MPs, backed Rahul Gandhi to continue on the post despite his refusal to reconsider his resignation. However, he did not budge from his stand of quitting as party chief.
The CWC then decided to name Sonia Gandhi as the interim party chief.