Congress president elections: Counting of votes to take place at 10 am; Mallikarjun Kharge, Shashi Tharoor in fray

Counting of votes for the Congress party president election is scheduled to take place today at 10 am. Its results are likely to be revealed anywhere between 3 pm to 4 pm. Voting took place on October 17 from 10 am to 4 pm across 67 polling booths in India.

More than 9,500 delegates voted in the election. Former Union Ministers and Members of Parliament Mallikarjun Kharge and Dr Shashi Tharoor are in the fray to get the top job in the grand old party.  

In a first, the Election Commission issued a QR-coded ID card to the delegates. Congress Working Committee (CWC) members like Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Dr Manmohan Singh and some other senior leaders cast their votes at the polling booth at 24 Akbar Road. Former party president Rahul Gandhi cast his vote from Karnataka’s Ballari as he is currently on the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

This is also the first time in 24 years that the party will get a non-Gandhi president with Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi out of the race.

Prior to Gandhi’s election as the party president in 1998, veteran Congress leader Sitaram Kesri held the post from September 23, 1996 to March 14, 1998. Kesri had won against the current Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot.

Also read: Shashi Tharoor vs Mallikarjun Kharge: Who will Congress elect as next President today?