For the first time in over 23 years, the Congress party elected a president who is not from the Gandhi family, senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge. Over 9,000 delegates of the grand old party voted to elect a new president on 17 October, with the results announced on 19 October.
Kharge defeated Congress MP from Trivandrum, Shashi Tharoor by securing 7,897 votes against Tharoor's 1,072 of a total of 9,385 votes.
Kharge is the first non-Gandhi president since 1998. He is also the first first Dalit president in 50 years, and first president from Karnataka since S Nijalingappa in 1969.
ADVERTISEMENTREMOVE AD
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)