96% turnout for election to top post: Congress
The high-stakes contest between frontrunner Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor in the election for the post of Congress president drew a massive turnout of voters Monday with close to 96 per cent of Pradesh Congress Committee delegates casting their ballot, according to the party.
Setting the stage for the counting Wednesday, a visibly happy Sonia Gandhi, the outgoing Congress president, said after casting her vote at the AICC headquarters in Delhi: “I have been waiting for a long time for this day.” The result will mark the first time the party will get a non-Gandhi at the helm after more than two decades.
As Congress votes to elect President, Shashi Tharoor says party’s future with workers who vote
As voting for the Congress presidential election is underway Monday, one of the candidates and party MP from Kerala Shashi Tharoor said the future of the Congress is in the hands of the party workers who will vote for the day’s electoral process.
After casting his vote at the party state committee office in Thiruvananthapuram, Tharoor, 66, told the media the Congress workers would decide on the next leadership. This election would only benefit the Congress party, he added. “Like the Bharat Jodo Yatra, this presidential election was also meant to revitalise the party. New energy is required to fight the BJP as well as to face the next Lok Sabha elections. We are going to face a big challenge from BJP in the next elections. I hope this presidential election has served that purpose,” he said.
