The results of Wednesday’s congressional presidential election was not sudden, but it surely did reveal a small shock. While Mallikarjun Kharge gained 7,897 votes (84.14%) and have become the primary non-Gandhi occasion chief in 24 years, Shashi Tharoor stunned many by getting 1,072 votes (11.42%).
Of the overall 9,385 votes, 416 have been declared invalid.
More than 11% vote share that Tharoor obtained displays the vote for change within the occasion.
Tharoor was the primary to achieve Kharge’s residence to congratulate him. Outgoing Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her daughter and AICC common secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra additionally visited Kharge’s 10, Rajaji Marg residence to want for the occasion president’s election.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to congratulate Kharge. “May his tenure be fruitful ahead,” he tweeted.
Rahul Gandhi, who was in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday for his India pair go to, spoke to Kharge over the cellphone. Asked what function he and his mom will play now, Rahul mentioned: “… my function, in fact I can not touch upon the function of Congress President… It’s as much as Mr Kharge to remark. As far as my function is anxious, I’m very clear. Congress President will resolve my function and the way I will likely be posted.
Asked if this is applicable to Sonia as nicely, he mentioned: “That you must ask Khargeji and Sonia Gandhiji. But so far as the Congress occasion is anxious, the final authority within the Congress occasion is the Congress President and we can have a brand new President, and that gentleman will resolve how the Congress occasion proceeds.
Many 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 of the Dalit group after Jagjivam Ram to turn out to be the Congress president after independence and the sixth chief to run the occasion from the south within the final 75 years – has the daunting job of injecting recent life into it. within the grand outdated occasion and revive it electorally. He will formally assume workplace on October 26.
On Wednesday, he gave full power after the victory. He thanked Sonia for offering management to the occasion, mentioned his tenure on the high of the Congress could be recorded in historical past, appealed to occasion staff and folks to hitch Rahul’s ongoing journey, and argued that as we speak India’s greatest downside is worth rise, unemployment, rising hole between wealthy and poor and hatred being unfold by the federal government.
“We will continue to look to her (Sonia and Rahul) for guidance,” Kharge mentioned. “We all must work collectively like staff. No one is superior, nobody is inferior. we’re all equal. Together we’ve got to battle in opposition to the assault on the Constitution and the conspiracy to destroy democracy. We must battle the fascist forces that are attacking each democratic establishment of the nation beneath the guise of communalism. We will strengthen the group and we are going to face these challenges.”
He mentioned that the Modi authorities is speaking about every part and never taking motion. He mentioned, “Empty vessels make the most noise… We believe that this country cannot be sacrificed on the whims and whims of a dictator. Together we have to defeat the destructive forces… From Parliament to We all have to fight till the streets… You have put your trust in me… made a person born in a poor family the president of Congress… I will meet your hopes,” he mentioned.
As the outcomes turned clear, Tharoor congratulated Kharge and thanked the PCC representatives who supported him. “The decision of the party representatives is final and I accept it humbly. It is a privilege to be a member of a party that allows its workers to choose their president,” he mentioned in an announcement. “Our new president is a celebration colleague and senior who brings substantial management and expertise to the desk. Under his steerage, I’m assured that all of us can collectively take the occasion to new heights.
But the election was fought vehemently until the final day, with Tharoor’s camp elevating issues a number of occasions. Even on the eve of counting, he wrote to the occasion’s election authority chief Madhusudan Mistry, declaring “extremely serious irregularities” within the conduct of elections in Uttar Pradesh. He demanded that UP votes be handled as unlawful.
Announcing the outcomes, Mistry mentioned the allegations leveled by the Tharoor camp had no foundation and mentioned he would give a point-by-point reply.
Addressing a press convention, Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha MP Tharoor mentioned that he was by no means a candidate for dissent, however for change. He mentioned that Kharge’s victory is the victory of Congress.
“It was never about one person. I never wanted anything for myself. My only wish is to see a strong Congress which is important for India’s strength. I fought elections in that spirit,” he mentioned.
Asked whether or not the votes he obtained mirrored discontent within the Congress cadre, he mentioned: “I didn’t mission myself as a candidate of dissent. I offered myself as a candidate for change. And make a change not within the ideology or course of the occasion however in the best way we do our routine work. And I noticed that there’s a have to implement the bulletins of Udaipur Chintan Shivir, not solely to open entry to staff within the occasion, to create extra alternatives for dialogue boards, but additionally to go forward… I hope Kharge… We will see how all occasion staff can contribute to efficient governance within the occasion in order that we may give an efficient problem to the BJP within the coming elections.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
