Congress President Election: Voting Ends In Tharoor Vs Kharge Contest, 96% Turnout, All Eyes On Oct 19. Key Points

Congress President Election: As many as 9,500 delegates casted ther votes with the voter turnout at 96%, according to party election panel chairman Madhusudan Mistry.

Congress Presidential Polls.

Congress President Election: Congress members have sealed the fate of Congress presidential poll candidates -- Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor -- as voting concluded on Monday at 4pm. As many as 9,500 delegates casted ther votes with the voter turnout at 96%, according to party election panel chairman Madhusudan Mistry. "Congress president polls held in open manner; other parties can learn lessons from it," Mistry said.

About 9,500 delegates cast their votes in Congress presidential polls; turnout 96 per cent: Party election panel chairman Madhusudan Mistry

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 17, 2022

Senior Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge are in fray as the grand old party is set to have a non-Gandhi president in over 24 years. 

Key Points

• Voting began at 10 a.m. at the AICC headquarters and at polling stations set up by the party in state offices across the country.
• Congress interim president Sonia, General Secretary Sonia Gandhi and other delegates reached the All India Congress Committee headquarters to vote through a secret ballot. 
• Over 9,000 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates form the electoral college to pick the party chief who voted at party's polling booths in state offices across the country. "About 9,500 delegates cast their votes in Congress presidential polls; turnout 96 per cent," Party election panel chairman Madhusudan Mistry said.
• "Congress party has shown what internal democracy is and other parties that want to take a lesson from it, can do so," Mistry said.
  
• No one should be concerned, according to Mistry, as it is a secret ballot and no one will find out who voted for whom.
• Speaking about the polls, Party election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry stated that there were no adverse incident during Congress presidential polls. 
• Francisco Sardinha, a Congress MP and former chief minister of Goa, commented on the elections taking place on Monday for the new Congress chief and said that Shashi Tharoor should have dropped out of the race to allow Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge to win the election without opposition.
• Of the 310 delegates present in Kerala, 264 cast their ballots up until one o'clock in favour of Tharoor or his rival Mallikarjun Kharge, who has the open backing of the top party officials in the region. At 4 PM, voting will be over.
• Bhupesh Baghel, the chief minister of Chhattisgarh, and Mohan Markam, the state's congressman, were among the party officials who voted on Monday to choose the new AICC president (AICC).
• At the AICC headquarters, veteran Congressman P Chidambaram was the first to vote.
• Even though Tharoor has positioned himself as the candidate of change, Kharge is still seen as the favourite due to his alleged closeness to the Gandhis and support from senior leaders.

(With Inputs From Agencies)