New Delhi: Counting of votes began today for the post of Congress President. After nearly 24 years, leader from outside the Gandhi family will be elected the president of the country’s oldest party.
MP Karti Chidambaram, proposer of Presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor and some other election agents are present on the occasion.
MP Syed Nasir Hussain and some other leaders are present for the second candidate Mallikarjun Kharge. By Tuesday evening, the ballot boxes from all the polling stations of the Congress in different states of the country had been brought to the Congress headquarters.
Many senior leaders had voted
They were kept in the strong room built inside the Congress headquarters. Around 9,500 delegates (members of the electoral college), including Congress President Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi and several other senior leaders, voted on Monday to elect the new party president.
Madhusudan Mistry, chairman of the Central Election Authority of the Congress, had told that around 96 percent voting was done, although there may be some changes after the full figures come out. Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor are the candidates in this election. Kharge’s claim is being considered strong due to his close proximity to the Gandhi family and the support of many senior leaders.
For the sixth time in the 137-year history of the Congress party, elections have been held for the post of president. According to party general secretary Jairam Ramesh, elections for the post of president have been held in 1939, 1950, 1977, 1997 and 2000.
This time the election for the post of President is being held after 22 years. He told that after 24 years from this election, a leader from outside the Gandhi family will be elected the president of the country’s oldest party.
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