Staff Reporter / New Delhi
Congress party today elected Mallikarjun Kharge as new President. Kharge defeated Shashi Tharoor in an electoral contest, the sixth in the party’s 137-year-history.
Congress’ central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry announced after the counting of votes that of the 9,385 votes polled in the Congress president poll, Kharge got 7,897 votes and Shashi Tharoor 1,072 votes, while 416 votes were declared invalid.
At a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, Mistry declared Kharge elected as Congress president.
On complaints by Tharoor’s team related to polling in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Telangana, Mistry said he will respond to the letters point by point.He said the letter should not have been leaked to the press and Tharoor’s team should have directly engaged with the poll authority.
Mr Kharge takes over from Sonia Gandhi, who agreed to temporarily lead the party when Rahul Gandhi stepped down in 2019, taking responsibility for successive general election defeats.
As is Congress tradition, Mr Kharge wanted to visit Sonia Gandhi at her 10, Janpath home. But sources say Sonia Gandhi decided that given the occasion, it should be the other way round. She drove to Mr Kharge’s 10, Rajaji home with a bouquet.
Though Mr Kharge made a last-minute entry into the contest, his landslide victory was never in doubt.
Even before the results were announced, the confirmation came from Rahul Gandhi at a press conference in Andhra Pradesh.
“I can’t comment on the Congress president’s role, that’s for Mr Kharge to comment on,” Rahul Gandhi said on the new president’s role while he remains the face of the party.
“The president will decide what my role is and how I am to be deployed… that you have to ask Kharge ji and Sonia ji,” he said.
He also said he would “report to” Mr Kharge, like every party member.
When the results were announced, celebrations erupted at the Congress office, the kind not seen in years as the party suffered defeat after defeat.
Mr Kharge, who is close to the Gandhis, has promised reforms but few expect radical changes on his watch.
His rival Shashi Tharoor built his campaign around change but lost, as expected.
He said the elections, irrespective of the outcome, had “ultimately strengthened the party”.
“I look forward to working with Congress colleagues to face the challenges ahead. I believe the revival of our party has truly begun today,” Mr Tharoor said in a statement.
