Mumbai, October 19: Mallikarjun Kharge has been elected as the new president of the Congress party. He will succeed Sonia Gandhi, who had taken over the party's highest post after Rahul Gandhi stepped down following the 2019 Lok Sabha Election. The results of the Congress Presidential Election were announced on Wednesday in which Mallikarjun Kharge received about 7897 votes. On the other hand, Shashi Tharoor got about 1000 votes.

Kharge, a Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka was fighting the Congress Presidential Election against Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor. After the results were announced, Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said that Mallikarjun Kharge won the election with 8 times more votes than Shashi Tharoor.

As the Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka sets his foot to take forward the Congress party, we take a look at a few facts about the new Congress President. Mallikarjun Kharge Becomes New Congress President, Wins Presidential Elections With 7897 Votes; Shashi Tharoor Congratulates.

Everything You Need to Know About Mallikarjun Kharge:

  • Mallikarjun Kharge is the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. Kharge, who is a staunch follower of Mahatma Gandhi began his political career as a student union leader while pursuing studies at the Government College.

  • Since his early days, Mallikarjun Kharge emerged as an influential labour union leader. In 1969, he joined the Indian National Congress.

  • Mallikarjun Kharge is considered a close ally of the Gandhi family. Political observers say that Kharge is a Gandhi loyalist.

  • In his political journey so far, Mallikarjun Kharge served as the minister of railways (June 2013-May 2014), and minister of labour and employment (May 2009-June 2013) during the Manmohan Singh government.

  • Did you know Mallikarjun Kharge created history after he had 10 successive wins from 1972 to 2009 in Karnataka's Gulbarga.

  • The veteran politician suffered his first electoral defeat in 2019 after he lost to BJP's Umesh Jadhav when PM Narendra Modi was elected for his second term.

  • The Rajya Sabha MP hails from the Dalit community. Kharge's elevation as the president of the Congress party might help the party in the upcoming Karnataka polls and the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.

Shashi Tharoor Congratulates Mallikarjun Kharge

After the Congress Presidential Election results were declared, Shashi Tharoor took to Twitter to congratulate Mallikarjun Kharge. In his post, Tharoor said, "It is a great honour & a huge responsibility to be President of @INCIndia &I wish @Kharge ji all success in that task." Tharoor also thanked his colleague and well wishers who voted for him.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 19, 2022 02:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).