Mallikarjun Kharge Sweeps Congress Prez Polls, Set To Become 36th Chief Of Grand Old Party

New Delhi: Former Union Minister Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday became the 36th President of the Indian National Congress, defeating Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor.

This is the first time in 24 years that the grand old party has a non-Nehru-Gandhi leader at the top.

The counting of votes began at 10 am on Wednesday. By early afternoon, the numbers stood at 7,897 votes for Kharge, against 1,072 votes polled for Tharoor. Of the total 9,385 votes, 416 were declared invalid.

Tharoor took to Twitter to wish Karge on his election as the party president.

Soon after, the Thiruvananthapuram MP conceded defeat. He issued a statement on Twitter, along with the caption, “It is a great honour and a huge responsibility to be President of @INCIndia 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.”