Mallikarjun Kharge elected new Congress president, Shashi Tharoor says 'revival of party has truly begun': Top developments

At a press meet after conceding defeat, Tharoor said: "I went to his (Mallikarjun Kharge) residence and congratulated him on his victory. He is a senior leader and will always guide the party. I am extremely happy as over 1,000 delegates voted for me. Our workers are the real pride of our party."
He added that he was not a candidate of dissent but a candidate of change.
"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," he said.

Tharoor further said he never doubted the party's election authority.
"Our party didn't hold polls for 22 year. In election of this nature, there were bound to be glitches. Leadership by and large stayed with Kharge, it is not surprising if you have choice between change and continuity, and if you're part of continuity why would you want change," said Tharoor.
The election will have a big impact on upcoming polls, Congress has to fight and the workers have awakened," he added.

In his first media briefing as Congress president elect, Mallikarjun Kharge thanked Sonia Gandhi for her 'personal sacrifice' over the past 24 years to strengthen the party.
"I want to congratulate my partner Shashi Tharoor as well. I met him and discussed how to take the party forward. I want to thank Sonia Gandhi on behalf of all party workers. Under her leadership, we formed our govt in the centre twice," Kharge said, adding: "We all have to work like workers of the party, nobody is big or small in the party. We have to unitedly fight against the fascist forces that are attacking the democratic institutions under the garb of communalism."
After Kharge's address, Congress MP Randeep Surjewala announced that the veteran leader would take charge as party president on October 26.

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor called on party president-elect Mallikarjun Kharge after losing to him in the battle for the top post, and offered his full cooperation going forward.
Taking to Twitter, Tharoor said that he called on the new Congress President and congratulated him.
"Called on our new President-elect Mallikarjun @kharge to congratulate him & offer him my full co-operation. @incIndia has been strengthened by our contest," he said.
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," the MP from Thiruvananthapuram tweeted.In a statement issued just after the announcement of the poll result, Tharoor said, "Our new President is our party colleague and senior who brings ample leadership and experience to the table. Under his guidance, I am confident we can all collectively take the party to new heights."

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday congratulated Mallikarjun Kharge on being elected as the new party chief and said he represents a "democratic vision" of India.

"Congratulations to Mallikarjun Kharge ji on being elected as the President of Congress.
"The Congress President represents a democratic vision of India. His vast experience and ideological commitment will serve the party well as he takes on this historic responsibility," Gandhi said on Twitter.

Congress CEC chairman Madhusudan Mistry held a press conference on Wednesday evening: "I hereby declare Mallikarjun Kharge as the elected President of Congress."
"Total counted votes were 9,385, of which Mallikarjun Kharge received 7,897 votes and Dr Shashi Tharoor received 1,072 votes. Invalid votes- 416," said Mistry.
On allegations by Tharoor regarding fraud, Mistry said: "UP had 6 ballot boxes of which 4 didn't have any issues. We got the seals of all ballot boxes checked by him (Shashi Tharoor) this morning. He stated, 2 ballot boxes did not have the embossed ballot box numbers."

Even before the results of the Congress presidential elections were officially announced, Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said Mallikarjun Kharge will decide his role in the party.

"I can't comment on the Congress president's role, that's for Mr. Kharge (party's Presidential candidate) to comment on. The president will decide what my role is ... and where I will be deployed ... ask Kharge ji and Sonia ji," said Congress MP amid the Andhra Pradesh leg of Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Within an hour of his statement, the results were announced and Mallikarjun Kharge was officially declared the winner of the Congress presidential elections with 7,897 votes, Shashi Tharoor got 1,072 votes.

Congratulating party president-elect Kharge, Tharoor tweeted: "It is a great honour and a huge responsibility to be President of INC and I wish Kharge ji all success in that task. It was a privilege to have received the support of over a thousand colleagues, and to carry the hopes and aspirations of so many well-wishers of Congress across India."

The Shashi Tharoor camp of the Congress has alleged "extremely serious irregularities" in Uttar Pradesh during the conduct of party president election.
In a letter addressed to the Central Election Authority (CEA) chief Madhusudan Mistry, Salman Soz, chief election agent for Tharoor has alleged that the election process in UP is "devoid of credibility and integrity" and a challenge to the authority of the CEA.

Tharoor camp has alleged "lack of proper sealing mechanism" for ballot boxes. In UP, ballot boxes were sealed without the "white plastic tag with serial number," the letter said. When raised with election officials, the team was assured that proper seal will be applied later, and claimed that the CEC office has only sent "unofficial plastic seals."
The team also shared photos of the so called "unofficial seals" used in ballot boxes in UP.