NewDelhi,Oct.19: Veteran party leader Mallikarjun Kharge was elected president of the Congress Party on Wednesday, the first non-Gandhi to head the party in two decades, after counting of votes in a nationwide election held two days earlier.
Kharge, who defeated Shashi Tharoor in the election, is the sixth president in the party’s 137-year-old history.
Karti Chidambaram, a counting agent for Tharoor, declared after the counting process was over that Kharge had won the polls with 7,897 votes and the Kerala MP had got 1,072 votes, according to NDTV.
Of the total 9,915 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates that formed the electoral college to pick the party chief in a secret ballot, over 9,500 cast their ballot at PCC offices and the AICC headquarters on Monday
In a statement, Tharoor said the final verdict has been in favour of Kharge. He also conveyed his congratulations to Kharge for his victory.
“The decision of the party delegates is final and I accept it humbly. It is a privilege to be a member of a party that allows its workers to choose their president,” Tharoor said, according to PTI and news television reports.
“Our new president is a party colleague and senior who brings ample leadership and experience to the table. Under his guidance, I am confident that we can all collectively take the party to new heights,” Tharoor said.
