Congress President Polls live: ver 9,500 votes cast across the country earlier this week, will be counted from 10 am onwards at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi.Congress President Poll Results 2022 Live Updates, Shashi Tharoor, Mallikarjun Kharge: Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge swept the party’s high-stakes presidential polls on Wednesday, paving the way for him to become the Congress’ first non-Gandhi president in over two decades. While Kharge received 7,897 of the total 9,385 votes, his opponent, Shashi Tharoor, trailed behind with 1,072 votes. Kharge will replace interim Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, who has been occupying the post ever since Rahul Gandhi stepped down after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Congratulating Kharge on his victory, Tharoor said he believed “the revival of the party begins today”. “It is a great honour and a huge responsibility to be President of the INC and I wish Kharge ji all success in the task,” he tweeted.
Earlier today, party leader Rahul Gandhi, in what appeared to be a slip of tongue, responded to a question referring to Kharge as the new Congress president. Meanwhile, on the eve of counting day, the Tharoor camp approached the election authority alleging that there were certain irregularities that took place during the election. The Tharoor camp is said to have claimed that there were irregularities in three states, including Uttar Pradesh, which has the largest number of PCC delegates. They alleged that in Uttar Pradesh ballot boxes were not sealed after polling was over, as per the guidelines issued by the authority.
While Kharge has been considered the Gandhi family’s ‘unofficial official candidate’ with a large number of senior leaders backing him, Tharoor pitched himself as the candidate of change. This will be the sixth time in its nearly 137-year-old history that an electoral contest would decide who would take up the mantle of the party’s president. The high-stakes contest between the two veteran leaders drew a massive turnout of voters Monday with close to 96 per cent of Pradesh Congress Committee delegates casting their ballot, according to the party. Of the 9,915 PCC delegates, 9,497 cast their votes across state capitals, including 87 at the AICC headquarters and 50 at the Yatra campsite, said Madhusudan Mistry, who is heading the party’s Central Election Authority (CEA).
Congress party presidential candidates Shashi Tharoor in Lucknow and Mallikarjun Kharge in Bellary (PTI, Twitter)
Mallikarjun Kharge has defeated Shashi Tharoor in the Congress Presidential Polls. Here is a breakup of the votes:
Celebratios have broken out outisde the AICC headquarters after Mallikarjun Kharge was declared the winner of the high-stakes Congress presidential race. Take a look:
Soon after Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge was declared the winner of the Congress' high-stakes presidential race, his opponent Shashi Tharoor congratulated him on his victory.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge swept the party’s high-stakes presidential polls on Wednesday, paving the way for him to become the Congress’ first non-Gandhi president in over two decades. While Kharge received 7,897 of the total 9,385 votes, his opponent, Shashi Tharoor, trailed behind with 1,072 votes. Kharge will replace interim Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, who has been occupying the post ever since Rahul Gandhi stepped down after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
In what appeared to be a slip of tongue, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today responded to a question referring to Mallikarjun Kharge as the new Congress president. When asked what his role will be in the party, Rahul said: "My new role is for the Congress president to decide.. ask Khargeji". Counting of votes is currently underway and it is widely expected that Kharge will emerge victorious in the election, one that is being held by the party after over two decades.
On the eve of counting of votes for the Congress’ high-stakes presidential election, the Shashi Tharoor camp on Tuesday approached the election authority alleging that there were certain irregularities on voting day in some states. The Tharoor camp is said to have claimed that there were irregularities in three states, including Uttar Pradesh, which has the largest number of PCC delegates.
The Tharoor camp claimed that in Uttar Pradesh ballot boxes were not sealed after polling was over, as per the guidelines issued by the authority. Read more.
Hours ahead of the Congress declaring its new president, Gaurav Gogoi, the election agent of Mallikarjun Kharge, said that this was a 'historic moment'. 'It's a historic moment. We're proud that we held 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,' Gogoi told news agency ANI.
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Amid the counting of votes in the Congress Presidential polls, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor's election agent Salman Soz said that he had alerted the party's election authority chief of various issues that have arisen during the election. "We've been in constant communication with Madhusudan Mistry's office, informed them about many different issues, cannot get into its specifics right now," Soz told news agency ANI.
Meanwhile, the Bharat Jodo Yatra, helmed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, is continuing in Andhra Pradesh. Gandhi visited the Sri Ganga Bhavani temple in Adoni this morning. He is set to address a press conference later in the day.
Moments after the counting of votes commenced at the AICC headquarters, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who is competing for the top party post, tweeted thanking everyone who had contibuted to "this historic event". Here's what he said.
With counting of votes commencing at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi, we are hours away from finding out who will replace Sonia Gandhi as Congress President.
In an interview with The Indian Express earlier this month, Mallikarjun Kharge talks about how he believes in collective decision-making, says implementing decisions of Udaipur Chintan Shivir will be his first priority, and says he is for consensus where there can be consensus. Excerpts:
How will a Mallikarjun Kharge presidency help the Congress?
Kharge: In a democracy we have to work according to the wishes of the people. The (PCC) delegates know what benefit or loss it (my presidency) will have. And the leaders also know. I have been working in this organisation for 55 years. So they know it better. I am contesting the election on their request. They must have thought about the plus and minus. Read the full interview.
While voting is set to commence in the next couple of hours at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi, the Bharat Jodo Yatra, helmed by Rahul Gandhi, commenced from Chagi village in Andhra Pradesh's Kurnool this morning. Take a look:
Over 9,500 votes cast across the country earlier this week, will be counted from 10 am onwards at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi. The new president will replace interim Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, who has been occupying the post ever since Rahul Gandhi stepped down after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The high-stakes contest between frontrunner Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor in the election for the post of Congress president drew a massive turnout of voters Monday with close to 96 per cent of Pradesh Congress Committee delegates casting their ballot, according to the party.
Setting the stage for the counting Wednesday, a visibly happy Sonia Gandhi, the outgoing Congress president, said after casting her vote at the AICC headquarters in Delhi: “I have been waiting for a long time for this day.” The result will mark the first time the party will get a non-Gandhi at the helm after more than two decades.
Among the other early voters at the 24, Akbar Road, party headquarters were an ailing former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and Sonia’s daughter and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi voted at a specially set-up booth at the Bharat Jodo Yatra campsite in Sanganakallu in Karnataka’s Ballari.
Good morning and welcome to our live blog! The Congress is set to get its first non-Gandhi president in over two decades on Wednesday, with party leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor vying for the top post.
Over 9,500 votes cast across the country earlier this week, will be counted from 10 am onwards at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi. The new president will replace interim Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, who has been occupying the post ever since Rahul Gandhi stepped down after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
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