Senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor will face off in an electoral contest on Monday for the post of Congress chief, as the party gets ready to have a non-Gandhi president after 22 years. Over 9,000 Pradesh Congress Committee delegates from the Electoral College to pick the party chief in a secret ballot.
Gujarat Congress leaders also came together to cast their vote. At the national level, from Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi to Manmohan Singh–everyone took part in the presidential elections. The overall voter turnout in the Congress presidential polls was about 96 per cent and in small states, it was nearly 100 per cent, party’s central election authority chairman said after voting ended in the Mallikarjun Kharge versus Shashi Tharoor contest.
Earlier, both Congress candidates Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor–visited Gujarat to campaign in the State. The ballot papers would be mixed before counting starts on Wednesday. Whoever gets more than 50 per cent of the votes will be elected Congress president.
