Mallikarjun Kharge wins Congress president polls, to take charge on Oct 26

Mallikarjun Kharge Vs Shashi Tharoor: Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge has swept the high-stakes Congress presidential election by securing 7,897 of the total 9,385 votes polled, while his opponent, Shashi Tharoor, who secured 1,072 votes, conceded defeat. Kharge is now all set to replace interim Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, who has been occupying the post ever since Rahul Gandhi stepped down after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. With this, Kharge will become the first non-Gandhi Congress president in over two decades. The counting of votes for the recently concluded presidential contest held between Kharge and Thiruvananthapuram MP is still underway and the official results are expected to be announced shortly.

NEW DELHI: Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge has swept the high-stakes Congress presidential election by securing 7,897 of the total 9,385 votes polled, while his opponent, Shashi Tharoor, who secured just over 1,072 votes, has conceded defeat. Kharge is now all set to replace interim Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, who has been occupying the post ever since Rahul Gandhi stepped down after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. With this, Kharge will also become the first non-Gandhi Congress president in over two decades. 

Earlier, the Election agent to Congress presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor wrote to Congress Central Election Authority chairman Madhusudhan Mistry, alleging "extremely serious irregularities in the conduct of election in UP" and demanded that ''all votes from UP be deemed invalid". The counting of votes for the recently concluded presidential contest held between Kharge and Thiruvananthapuram MP is still underway and the official results are expected to be announced shortly. 

While party veteran Kharge was considered the Gandhi family’s ‘unofficial candidate’ as a large number of senior leaders backed him, Tharoor pitched himself as the ''candidate of change.''  

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19 October 2022

18:17 IST

Shashi Tharoor: 'This election was never about a person'

Shashi Tharoor, after losing the Congress presidential election, said, "We should consider Kharge Ji's victory as the victory of the Congress party. This election was never about a person but always about the party. I always wanted to strengthen the party because strengthening Congress is very important for the country."

15:46 IST

Sonia Gandhi visits newly-elected Congress president Kharge

Ex-Congress president Sonia Gandhi arrived at Mallikarjun Kharge's residence as he swept the polls to become the new Congress president.

#WATCH | Delhi: Outgoing Congress president Sonia Gandhi arrives at the residence of Congress President-elect Mallikarjun Kharge pic.twitter.com/KsNtOpiD9A

— ANI (@ANI) October 19, 2022

14:11 IST

''It is a great honour & a huge responsibility to be President of @INCIndia & I wish @Kharge Ji all success in that task. It was a privilege to have received the support of over a thousand colleagues & to carry the hopes & aspirations of so many well-wishers of Congress across India,'' tweet Tharoor.

14:10 IST

Mallikarjun Kharge wins the Congress presidential elections with 7897 votes, Shashi Tharoor got about 1000 votes; 416 votes were rejected, reports ANI.

14:09 IST

Congress Presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor issues a statement congratulating Congress President-elect Mallikarjun Kharge, says, "I believe the revival of our party has truly begun today."

Congress Presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor issues a statement congratulating Congress President-elect Mallikarjun Kharge; says "I believe the revival of our party has truly begun today." pic.twitter.com/tNnqti8CIT

— ANI (@ANI) October 19, 2022

14:08 IST

Mallikarjun Kharge wins the Congress presidential elections with 7897 votes, Shashi Tharoor got about 1000 votes. Kharge has won with 8 times more votes, says Congress leader Pramod Tiwari.

13:48 IST

Mallikarjun Kharge set to be the new Congress president, he has received over 7000 votes; his rival Shashi Tharoor has garnered over 1000 votes, reports ANI.

13:35 IST

BJP's media cell in-charge Amit Malviya claims Shashi Tharoor is whining like a sore loser and he will be ridiculed for taking on Gandhis.

Shashi Tharoor is whining like a sore loser. Did he actually expect elections in Congress to be free and fair? He should be grateful that he wasn’t locked up in bathroom…The worst is still to come. In the next few months he will be ridiculed and shamed for taking on the Gandhis.

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) October 19, 2022

13:21 IST

''Why is only Congress' internal election being questioned? Why is nobody interested in elections in other parties, including the BJP and other regional parties,'' asks Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra press briefing.

Why is only Congress' internal election being questioned? Why is nobody interested in elections in other parties, including the BJP and other regional parties?

: Shri @RahulGandhi #BharatJodoYatra

— Congress (@INCIndia) October 19, 2022

12:06 IST

It's a historic moment. We're proud that we held the poll in such a democratic manner. We also feel gratitude towards Sonia Gandhi who took charge of the party during a difficult time. In time to come, Congress will further strengthen, ays Gaurav Gogoi, counting agent of Mallikarjun Kharge.

12:06 IST

“We've been in constant communication with Madhusudan Mistry's office, informed them about many different issues, cannot get into its specifics right now,” Salman Soz, election agent of Congress presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor tells news agency ANI.

11:54 IST

Election agent to Congress presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor writes a letter to Congress Central Election Authority chairman Madhusudhan Mistry, alleging "extremely serious irregularities in the conduct of election in UP" & demands "that all votes from UP be deemed invalid".

Election agent to Congress presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor writes letter to Congress Central Election Authority chairman Madhusudhan Mistry, alleging "extremely serious irregularities in conduct of election in UP" & demands "that all votes from UP be deemed invalid". pic.twitter.com/ZEAZVsJAVF

— ANI (@ANI) October 19, 2022

10:55 IST

The counting process is currently underway at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi.

10:35 IST

Congress central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry has expressed satisfaction with the party's presidential polls process, saying it was "free, fair and transparent".
He has also said it was a secret ballot and no one would get to know who voted for whom.

10:34 IST

Karti Chidambaram, Atul Chaturvedi and Sumedh Gaikwal are the counting agents of Tharoor.

10:12 IST

The counting agents of Kharge are Pramod Tiwari, Kodikunil Suresh, Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Nasir Hussain, Kuljit Singh Bagra and Gurdeep Singh Sappal.

10:01 IST

Counting for Congress presidential election held recently has begun at the party HQ in New Delhi.

10:00 IST

Congress Central Election Authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry arrives at the party HQ in Delhi. Gaurav Gogoi, the counting agent of the party's presidential candidate Mallikarjun Kharge also arrives at the HQ.

Congress Central Election Authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry arrives at the party HQ in Delhi. Counting of votes for the party's presidential election will begin shortly

Gaurav Gogoi,counting agent of the party's presidential candidate Mallikarjun Kharge also arrives at the HQ pic.twitter.com/mYw7pLqOEK

— ANI (@ANI) October 19, 2022

09:58 IST

Counting for the recently concluded presidential contest will begin at 10 am and the results are expected to be announced between 3 PM to 4 PM.

09:58 IST

The electoral contest was held between veteran Mallikarjun Kharge and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor.

09:57 IST

More than 9,500 delegates cast their votes in the presidential election.

09:47 IST

Elections to the post of Congress president were held on Monday, and 68 polling booths were set up across the country.