THE CONGRESS presidential election consequence on Wednesday was not surprising, however did throw up a minor shock. Whereas Mallikarjun Kharge gained 7,897 votes (84.14%) to turn out to be the primary non-Gandhi occasion chief in 24 years, Shashi Tharoor stunned many by polling 1,072 votes (11.42%).
Of the overall 9,385 votes, 416 votes have been declared invalid.
The over 11% vote share that Tharoor acquired displays the vote for change within the occasion.
Tharoor was among the many first to succeed in Kharge’s residence to congratulate him. Outgoing Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her daughter and AICC common secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra too drove to Kharge’s 10, Rajaji Marg residence to want the occasion president-elect.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to want Kharge. “Could he have a fruitful tenure forward,” he tweeted.
Rahul Gandhi, who was in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday for his Bharat Jodo Yatra, spoke to Kharge over telephone. Requested what position he and his mom would play now, Rahul stated: “…my position, after all I can’t touch upon Congress president’s position… that’s for Mr Kharge to touch upon. I’m very clear so far as my position is worried. The Congress president will resolve my position and the way I’m to be deployed”.
Requested whether or not that utilized to Sonia as properly, he stated: “That it’s important to ask Khargeji and Sonia Gandhiji. However so far as the Congress occasion is worried, the ultimate authority within the Congress occasion is the Congress president and we could have a brand new president, and that gentleman will resolve precisely how the Congress occasion strikes ahead.”
A number of senior leaders, together with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, reached Kharge’s residence to congratulate him. Rahul and Priyanka additionally tweeted congratulatory messages to Kharge however made no point out of Tharoor.
The 80-year-old veteran — the second chief from the Dalit neighborhood after Jagjivam Ram to turn out to be Congress president post-independence and the sixth chief from the South to helm the occasion within the final 75 years — has the onerous activity of injecting contemporary life into the grand previous occasion and reviving it electorally. He’ll formally assume cost on October 26.
On Wednesday, he made all the fitting noises after his victory. He thanked Sonia for offering management to the occasion, saying her tenure on the Congress helm will probably be etched in historical past, appealed to occasion employees and other people to hitch Rahul’s ongoing yatra, and argued that the largest downside that India is going through right now is worth rise, unemployment, widening hole between the wealthy and poor, and the hatred being unfold by the federal government.
“We are going to proceed to look to them (Sonia and Rahul) for his or her steering,” stated Kharge. “All of us must work collectively like employees. Nobody is superior, nobody is inferior. We’re all equal. Collectively, we now have to battle towards the assault on the Structure and the conspiracy to destroy democracy. Now we have to battle towards the fascist forces who, beneath the guise of communalism, are attacking each democratic establishment of the nation. We are going to strengthen the organisation and we are going to face these challenges,” he stated.
He stated the Modi authorities was all speak and no motion. “Empty vessels take advantage of noise…it’s our perception that this nation can’t be sacrificed on the whims and fancies of a dictator. Collectively, we now have to defeat the damaging forces… All of us must battle, from Parliament to the streets … You could have reposed your belief in me… made an individual who was born in a poor household the president of the Congress… I’ll meet your expectations,” he stated.
Because the outcomes grew to become clear, Tharoor congratulated Kharge and thanked the PCC delegates who had supported him. “The choice of the occasion delegates is ultimate and I settle for it humbly. It’s a privilege to be a member of a celebration that enables its employees to decide on their president,” he stated in a press release. “Our new president is a celebration colleague and senior who brings ample management and expertise to the desk. Below his steering, I’m assured that we will all collectively take the occasion to new heights,” he added.
However the election was fought bitterly to the final day, with the Tharoor camp elevating issues a number of occasions. Even on the eve of counting, they wrote to Madhusudan Mistry, head of the occasion’s election authority, mentioning “extraordinarily severe irregularities” in conducting the elections in Uttar Pradesh. They demanded that the votes from UP be deemed invalid.
Mistry, whereas saying the outcomes, stated the costs levelled by the Tharoor camp have “no foundation” and asserted that he would give a point-by-point reply.
Addressing a press convention, Tharoor, the Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram, stated he was by no means a candidate of dissent, however for change. He stated Kharge’s victory was the victory of the Congress.
“It was by no means about one particular person. I by no means needed something for me. My solely want is to see a robust Congress which is necessary for India’s energy. I fought the election in that spirit,” he stated.
Requested whether or not the votes he obtained mirrored dissent within the Congress cadre, he stated: “I didn’t pitch myself as a candidate of dissent. I pitched myself as a candidate for change. And alter not within the ideology or the route of the occasion however within the method through which we do our common work. And I did really feel that there’s a want for opening up entry to the employees within the occasion, creating extra alternatives for dialogue boards, implementing not solely the declarations of the Udaipur chintan shivir however additional… I hope Kharge… will look significantly at how all occasion employees can contribute to efficient governance within the occasion in order that we will mount an efficient problem to the BJP within the elections forward.”