Congress leader Shashi Tharoor congratulated Mallikarjun Kharge on winning the polls for the party president, saying the "revival of our party has truly begun today". Kharge, a staunch Gandhi family loyalist from Karnataka, won the Congress presidential elections with 7897 votes while Shashi Tharoor got about 1000 votes. 


"It is great honour, huge responsibility to be president of Congress, I wish Mallikarjun Kharge all success in that task...I believe the revival of our party has truly begun today," Tharoor said in a statement.


"My thanks to Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for doing their own bit to support free and neutral Cong presidential elections. We owe irredeemable debt to outgoing president Sonia Gandhi for leadership and for being anchor during most crucial moments," Tharoor further said.



Tharoor, who has alleged "extremely serious irregularities" in the conduct of the election, said the Nehru-Gandhi family has held and will always hold a special place in hearts of Congress party members.


Kharge becomes the Congress' first non-Gandhi president in 24 years. The 80-year-old leader succeeds Sonia Gandhi at the grand old party's highest office.


Kharge becomes the second Dalit president of the Congress after Jagjivan Ram, who became the chief after the party's split in 1969.


READ | Mallikarjun Kharge: New Congress President & Gandhi Family Loyalist A 9-Time MLA Who Lost CM Race Thrice


This is perhaps the most important post the octogenarian Dalit leader will hold in his political career after he missed three opportunities previously to become the chief minister of Karnataka.


Earlier in the day, Tharoor wrote to the Congress's chief election authority, flagging "irregularities" in the conduct of the election in Uttar Pradesh  and demanded that all votes from the state be deemed invalid. Tharoor's campaign team also raised "serious issues" in the conduct of the election in Punjab and Telangana.


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 PTI inputs)