Gandhi loyalist Mallikarjun Kharge elected as new Congress President, Tharoor promises a 'revival'

Mallikarjun Kharge was on Wednesday elected as the new Congress President after he received 7,897 votes, while his rival Shashi Tharoor managed to secure only 1,072.

Although the counting of votes has ended, official results are yet to be announced. A total of 416 votes were declared invalid.

Kharge's supporters broke out in dance and burst crackers outside the AICC headquarters here. He is likely to take charge next week a day after Diwali (October 23).

For the first in over two decades, the Congress will get a non-Gandhi President.

Revival of Congress has begun: Dr. Shashi Tharoor

Runner-up in the Congress president poll, Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday thanked his supporters and said that the elections will galvanize the party and its revival has begun.

He thanked his volunteer team of party colleagues "for their amazing efforts against impossible odds to keep our campaign going and congratulated the Chief Election Authority, Madhusudan Mistry, and his colleagues for their efforts to make this possible."

"It is our duty to lead the nation to the bright democratic future envisaged by the founders of our Republic. The ideals of a pluralist, prosperous and egalitarian India that inspired Mahatma Gandhi, Nehruji, and Dr. Ambedkar must be fought for with renewed determination in the face of the onslaught on our most precious values by the ruling party and the forces it has unleashed," he added.

Tharoor said he looks forward to working with his Congress colleagues to face the challenges ahead.

"I believe the revival of our party has truly begun today," Tharoor said after losing to Mallikarjun Kharge.

New Congress president will decide my role: Rahul Gandhi

Earlier today, Rahul gandhi had announced that he will report to the new Congress president who will decide his role in the party.

"As far as the Congress party is concerned, the president will be the final authority. We will have a new Congress president who will decide how the Congress party moves forward," Rahul said.

"Mr Mallikarjun Kharge and Mr Shashi Tharoor are both people with experience and understanding. Whoever gets elected they do not need advice from me. They have experience and understanding and they will decide what to do," he added.

To another query, Rahul said he would report to the Congress president.

"Obviously. In the Congress party the president is the supreme authority and every Congress member reports to that person."

When asked about the allegation by Shashi Tharoor team about irregularities in AICC presidential election in Uttar Pradesh, he said the Election Commission of the party would look into it.

Irregularities in the voting process?

Congress central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry has rejected the allegation leveled by team Shashi Tharoor regarding the party presidential poll and said there was no basis for the complaint as there was no specific allegation.

He said on Wednesday that they have prepared a detailed reply to their allegations and said the letter should not have been leaked to the media. There were only two complaints about two ballot boxes during the counting, he said.

Mistry said, "Shri Mallikarjun Kharge and Dr. Shashi Tharoor were the candidates for the election of the President of the Indian National Congress. The polling was held on 17th October 2022 and counting took place today, i.e. 19th October 2022 in the presence of the authorized Agents of the contested candidates. The total votes polled are 9,385. Mallikarjun Kharge got 7897 votes, and Shashi Tharoor 1072. Invalid votes 416 Votes

"As per Article XVIII (d) of the Constitution of Indian National Congress, I hereby declare Shri Mallikajun Kharge elected as President of Indian National Congress," he said. (KB/IANS)