Veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge has been elected the new chief of the Congress party. He is the first non-Gandhi chief of the Congress in more than 20 years.
Kharge, widely seen to be the “Gandhi-approved” candidate, won 90 per cent of the votes cast on Monday. He scored 7,897 votes while Shashi Tharoor finished with 1,072.
The election comes three years after Sonia Gandhi agreed to temporarily lead the party when Rahul Gandhi stepped down, taking responsibility for the two consecutive routs of the party in 2014 and 2019 general elections.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who lost the Congress presidential election, praised the winning candidate, Mallikarjun Kharge, saying he felt that the revival of the party “has truly begun today”. He said the new party President is a colleague and senior “who brings ample leadership and experience to the table”.
Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi met Mallikarjun Kharge at his home in Delhi and congratulated him on being elected the new party president
