May he have a fruitful tenure ahead: PM Modi congratulates Mallikarjun Kharge on being elected as Congress president

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on his election as party president on Wednesday and wished him a fruitful tenure.

“My best wishes to Shri Mallikarjun Kharge Ji for his new responsibility as President of @INCIndia. May he have a fruitful tenure ahead,” Modi tweeted.

My best wishes to Shri Mallikarjun Kharge Ji for his new responsibility as President of @INCIndia. May he have a fruitful tenure ahead. @kharge

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 19, 2022

Kharge was elected Congress president, defeating Shashi Tharoor in an electoral contest, the sixth in the party’s 137-year-old history.

A Gandhi family loyalist from Karnataka, the 80-year-old leader defeated Shashi Tharoor in an electoral contest by bagging nearly 84 percent of votes in the party presidential election.

Kharge got 7,897 votes and Tharoor 1,072 votes, while 416 votes were declared invalid, Congress’ central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry said at a press conference at the AICC headquarters.

Addressing a press conference after his victory Kharge said, “no one is big or small, all have to work together as ‘karyakartas’ to strengthen Congress…We have to fight together against fascist forces who are attacking democracy and Constitution.”

First non-Gandhi president in 24 years

He will be the first party president from outside the Gandhi family in 24 years. The Karnataka leader will formally take over as the party’s president on 26 October.

Though a late entrant in the Congress’ internal elections, held to choose Sonia Gandhi’s successor, Kharge’s victory was almost certain as he was considered a ‘family-approved’ candidate. The last non-Gandhi Congress president was Sitaram Kesri, who was unceremoniously removed in 1998 just after two years into his five-year term.

With inputs from PTI

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