New Delhi: Former Union Minister Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday became the 36th Presiedent of the Indian National Congress after defeating Shashi Tharoor.
This is the first time in 24 years that the grand old party has a non Nehru- Gandhi leader at the top.
Kharge got 7,897 votes while Tharoor got 1072 out of the total 9385 votes cast. Tharoor took to Twitter to wish Karge on his election as the party president.
Mallikarjun Kharge a Gandhi loyalist
The Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha has experience, maturity, understanding of national affairs, and commands the respect of fellow Parliamentarians. Besides, he is a good speaker both in English and Hindi.
Handing him the charge of the main opposition party at a time when it is going through one of the lowest points in its long history is the best thing that could have happened to the Gandhis in a long time.
They need not fear insubordination or defiance from Kharge. His long record as an 11-time MLA and minister in Karnataka and later as a central minister or even as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha testifies to his ability to seek cooperation and consensus rather than confrontation and controversy.
He will bring to the position of the Congress President much-needed gravitas and respect. In sharp contrast to the party leadership in recent years, Kharge can be relied upon to speak with authority and knowledge on domestic and foreign affairs.
In other words, unlike Rahul Gandhi no gaffes would come from Kharge’s mouth. Indeed, should the Gandhis be wise, they would try and project Mr Kharge as the party’s prime ministerial candidate.
Poses no threat to Gandhi's
At 80, Kharge, a Dalit by birth and a lawyer by profession, does not pose any threat to the Gandhi scion who still has a couple of decades of active politics ahead of him in which he can try and get his act together.
It is not the first time that a non-Gandhi leader is contesting for the party presidency post-Independence, Jitendra Prasad contested for the post of president about 22 years ago against Sonia Gandhi in which Sonia emerged as a winner holding the mantle of the party for 20 years.
Sonia Gandhi longest serving president of the party
Sonia Gandhi is the longest-serving president of the party, having held the office for over twenty years from 1998 to 2017 and since 2019.
This time no member of the Gandhi family is contesting for the post of President.
This is the sixth time in its nearly 137-year-old history that polls will be held to elect the President of the party.
In the 2017 elections, Rahul Gandhi became the president unopposed.
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