Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge was on Wednesday elected the Congress president, a non-Gandhi chief after over two decades. Mallikarjun Kharge was running against Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor. Mallikarjun Kharge won the Congress presidential elections with 7,897 votes, while Shashi Tharoor bagged a little over 1,000 votes. Reacting to the Congress presidential election results, Shashi Tharoor said it was a privilege to get the support of over 1,000 party workers.
In a statement, Shashi Tharoor said, “It is a great honour & a huge responsibility to be President of @INCIndia &I wish @Kharge ji all success in that task. It was a privilege to have received the support of over a thousand colleagues, & to carry the hopes & aspirations of so many well-wishers of Congress across India.”
“The decision of the party delegates is final and I accept humbly. It is a privilege be a member of a party that allows its workers to do their President,” adding that he believes the revival of the party has “truly” begun today as the new Congress President is elected.
Congratulating Mallikarjun Kharge for winning the Congress Presidential election, Shashi Tharoor said he would take the party to new heights. “Our new President is a party colleague and senior who brings ample leadership and experience to the table. Under his guidance, I am confident that we can all collectively take the party to new heights,” Shashi Tharoor said.
Shashi Tharoor also thanked the Nehru-Gandhi family and hoped that it would continue to remain the foundational pillar of the Congress.
“My thanks also to former President Shri Rahul Gandhi and Smt Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for doing their own bit to support free and neutral elections. The Nehru-Gandhi family has held, and will always hold, a special place in the hearts of Congress party members and with good reason too.”
“It is my hope and belief that the family will remain the foundational pillar of the Congress, our moral conscience and ultimate guiding spirit. In particular, the spectacular success of the ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra is a testament to the family's enduring appeal to the masses,” Shashi Tharoor said.
The campaign team of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who on Wednesday conceded defeat to Mallikarjun Kharge in the party presidential poll, had written to the party's chief election authority, flagging "extremely serious irregularities" in the conduct of the election in Uttar Pradesh, sources said.
In his letter to Central Election Authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry, Shashi Tharoor's chief election agent Salman Soz had said the facts are "damning" and the election process in Uttar Pradesh is "devoid of credibility and integrity", they said. He said after a detailed discussion with polling agents, Tharoor's team is constrained to report "disturbing facts".
The "irregularities" in Uttar Pradesh flagged by Tharoor's team include use of unofficial seals for ballot boxes, presence of unofficial persons in polling booths, voting malpractice, no polling summary sheet, presence of AICC secretaries in-charge of Uttar Pradesh.
(With agency inputs)
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