New Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge & those before him
Mallikarjun Kharge defeated Shashi Tharoor by 6,000 votes to become the new Congress President
He won 7,897 votes out of total 9,385 votes while his opponent Shashi Tharoor managed to secure only 1,072 votes
Let’s take a look…
While Mallikarjun Kharge is the first non-Gandhi chief in 24 years, Congress Presidents in the past have mainly been from the Gandhi family
B Pattabhi Sitaramayya (1948-1949)
In post-Independence India, B Pattabhi Sitaramayya was the first to be elected Congress chief after being backed by Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru
Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru (1951-1954)
Jawaharlal Nehru served as the party's president while he was the Prime Minister of India
Indira Gandhi (1959-1960), (1978-1983)
Jawaharlal Nehru’s daughter Indira Gandhi held the post of Congress President thrice
Rajiv Gandhi (1985-1991)
Rajiv Gandhi took over the party after his mother Indira Gandhi’s assassination. He continued to serve as the Congress chief till he was assassinated in 1991
Sonia Gandhi (1998 - 2017), (2019- 2022)
Rajiv Gandhi's wife Sonia Gandhi has been the longest-serving Congress President with over 20 years of leading the party. She was serving as the interim chief since her son Rahul Gandhi’s resignation
Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi briefly served as the Congress chief from 2017 to 2019 but resigned from the post after the party's crushing defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls