Sonia re-elected Congress leader

Sonia Gandhi's supporters celebrated her victory

Indian opposition leader Sonia Gandhi has been comfortably re-elected as the president of the Congress party beating off a leadership challenge.

Ms Gandhi - the widow of India's former prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi - won 7,448 votes out of the 7,771 votes polled by the party's national electoral college.

This is a very happy occasion, but we all have to work as one to make Congress a success

Sonia Gandhi

Her challenger, Jitendra Prasada, managed only 94 votes.

Mr Prasada is the first Congress party member to have challenged a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family, which has dominated the Congress during last 50 years.

Allegations

The election was preceded by allegations of electoral irregularities from supporters of Mr Prasada.

Mrs Gandhi is accused of alienating grassroots workers

They alleged that the electoral lists were rigged and that the electoral college had been packed with Sonia Gandhi supporters.

But Congress, which prides itself in being the only Indian party to hold elections to the party president, claimed the election process was free and fair.

There was little doubt that Sonia Gandhi would win the election, but her supporters were wary of the support Mr Prasada could attract.

A crushing defeat means that Sonia Gandhi's support base within the Congress is still very strong.

"This is a very happy occasion, but we all have to work as one to make Congress a success," she said after the results were announced.

Leadership

Sonia Gandhi has led the Congress party since 1998, drawing much of her political strength from her association with the legendary Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.

But although she still has a large and devoted body of support within the party, recently there have been growing murmurs of discontent.

The party fared badly in the 1999 general elections, winning only 114 seats in the 545-member Indian parliament.

Critics have questioned Mrs Gandhi's ability to revitalise the party by bringing fresh energy and talent into its ranks.

She is also been accused of alienating grassroots workers by being aloof and too autocratic in her style of leadership.