Page 15 - Indian National Congress

Congress presidential polls energised cadre to face BJP: Shashi Tharoor

The Congress presidential election has energised party workers to take on the challenge the BJP poses in upcoming elections, Shashi Tharoor, who lost the poll to Mallikarjun Kharge, said on Wednesday. Tharoor told a press conference here he was never a candidate of dissent, but for change. Kharge's victory was a victory of the Congress, he said, adding the party's presidential election was to strengthen the organisation. "This augurs well for the Congress. We will move forward from here. Our workers have been energised to take on the challenge posed by the BJP and I am also confident that our party will display its strength," said Tharoor, who got 1,072 votes against Kharge's 7,897. "This is not an issue about an individual. I only wish that the party is strengthened. For a stronger India, you need a stronger Congress," he said. Tharoor expressed hope Kharge will implement the provisions of the Congress constitution that mandates election to the Congress Working Committee.

Sonia Gandhi visits Kharge, congratulates him on winning Cong prez poll

Outgoing Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday visited veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge's residence and congratulated him on winning the party presidential poll with a huge margin

Shashi Tharoor calls on Mallikarjun Kharge after Cong prez poll results

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor called on party president-elect Mallikarjun Kharge after losing to him in the battle for the top post, and offered his full cooperation going forward. Kharge was on Wednesday elected the Congress president after defeating Tharoor in the electoral contest, the sixth in the party's 137-year-old history. Kharge got 7,897 votes and Shashi Tharoor 1,072 votes, while 416 votes were declared invalid. "Called on our new President-elect Mallikarjun Kharge to congratulate him & offer him my full co-operation. Congress has been strengthened by our contest," Tharoor tweeted along with pictures of his meeting with Kharge. In one of the pictures, he held Kharge's arm aloft with Congress MP Karti Chidambaram also in the photograph.

Cong chief-elect Kharge represents a 'democratic vision' of India: Rahul

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday congratulated Mallikarjun Kharge on being elected as the new party chief and said he represents a "democratic vision" of India. "Congratulations to Mallikarjun Kharge ji on being elected as the President of Congress. "The Congress President represents a democratic vision of India. His vast experience and ideological commitment will serve the party well as he takes on this historic responsibility," Gandhi said on Twitter. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also congratulated Kharge and said his vast experience will help strengthen the party. "I am confident that your ground experience in political life will help strengthen the ideology of the Congress," she said in a tweet in Hindi. "Under your leadership, the Congress will continue to fight to protect the Constitution and democracy," she added. Vadra visited Kharge's residence along with outgoing Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to congratulate him. Kharge's wife was a

Newly elected Congress president will decide my role, says Rahul Gandhi

: MP Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said the president was the supreme authority in the Congress and whoever got elected to the post would decide on the way forward (for the party). Responding to a query during his brief interaction with media during the Bharat Jodo Yatra here, Rahul Gandhi said the new president would decide on what my role and how I will be deployed. Obviously, Rahul replied when asked if he would be reporting to the new president. President is the supreme authority in the Congress and everyone reports to him. My role I am very clear Congress president will decide what my role is and how I will be deployed, he remarked. At one point, Rahul said, It is for Kharge to decide but later corrected himself to whoever gets elected, that gentleman will decide. Rahul observed that Kharge and Tharoor are people with experience and understanding. They do not need my advice, he added. Questioned about Shashi Tharoor's allegation of irregularities in the Congress president elect

Mallikarjun Kharge becomes first non-Gandhi Congress President in 24 years

Mapanna Mallikarjun Kharge, a staunch Gandhi family loyalist from Karnataka, has become the Congress' first non-Gandhi president in 24 years. The 80-year-old leader succeeds Sonia Gandhi at the grand old party's highest office. Kharge defeated Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor in the October 17 Congress' Presidential polls, which saw over 9,500 delegates across the country voting. A leader with more than 50 years of experience in politics, he is also the second AICC President from Karnataka after S Nijalingappa and also second Dalit leader after Jagjivan Ram to hold the post. Kharge was elected MLA for nine times in a row, seeing a steady rise in his career graph from humble beginnings as a union leader in his home district of Gulbarga (renamed as Kalaburagi). He joined the party in 1969 and went on to become President of the Gulbarga City Congress Committee. That Kharge was unconquerable at the hustings was mirrored until 2014 Lok Sabha polls in which h

Kharge vs Tharoor: Counting of votes begins for Congress Presidential polls

Counting of votes began on Monday in the Congress presidential polls in which senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor faced-off for the post of AICC chief. The counting of the votes cast on Monday began at 10 am at the AICC headquarters here. All sealed ballot boxes from the 68 polling booths set up across the country had been brought here by Tuesday evening and kept in a "strong room" at the party office. The counting agents of Kharge are Pramod Tiwari, Kodikunil Suresh, Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Nasir Hussain, Kuljit Singh Bagra and Gurdeep Singh Sappal. Karti Chidambaram, Atul Chaturvedi and Sumedh Gaikwal are among those who are counting agents of Tharoor. While Kharge is considered the firm favourite with his perceived proximity to the Gandhis and a large number of senior leaders backing him, Tharoor has pitched himself as the candidate of change. Congress central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry has expressed satisfaction with the party's presidential pol

Congress to get first non-Gandhi president in 24 years today

The Congress will get its first non-Gandhi president in 24 years on Wednesday after more than 9,500 votes cast to choose between senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor are counted to cap the election contest, the sixth in its 137-year-old history. The counting of the votes cast on Monday will begin at 10 am on Wednesday at the AICC headquarters here. While Kharge is considered the firm favourite with his perceived proximity to the Gandhis and a large number of senior leaders backing him, Tharoor has pitched himself as the candidate of change. The process of bringing all the ballot boxes from the 68 polling booths set up across the country by the party will be completed by Tuesday. The sealed boxes will be kept in a "strong room" at the party headquarter. The sealed ballot boxes will be opened before the candidates' agents and the votes will be mixed repeatedly as they are added from various boxes. Congress central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry has ...

Congress announces list of 46 candidates for Himachal assembly elections

The Congress on Tuesday released its first list of 46 candidates for the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections scheduled for November 12. In the list released here, Congress Legislature Party leader Mukesh Agnihotri has been fielded from the Haroli assembly seat and former minister Asha Kumari from her Dalhousie seat. The party has nominated former state Congress chiefs Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and Kuldeep Singh Rathore from Nadaun and Theog, respectively. The party has fielded all its sitting MLAs, including former chief minister Virbhadra Singh's son Vikramaditya Singh from the Shimla Rural constituency. However, the first list of candidates did not include the name of state Congress chief Pratibha Singh. She is the sitting MP from Mandi and the wife of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh. Former BJP leader Dyal Pyari, who switched over to the Congress a few days ago, has been fielded from the Pachhad (SC) seat. Col Dhani Ram Shandil will contest from his Solan seat and Harshward

Rajasthan: BJP wants Speaker to accept resignations of Gehlot loyalists

The Opposition BJP in Rajasthan on Tuesday requested Assemby Speaker CP Joshi to accept the resignation of Congress MLAs and ministers which they had submitted last month over their party high command's probable move to make Sachin Pilot the chief minister. A delegation led by the Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria handed over a representation to the Speaker at his residence. If the resignations are not accepted, Kataria said the Congress MLAs should withdraw them and apologise to the people. According to Kataria, 91 Congress MLAs, including ministers, had submitted their resignation to the Speaker on September 25 after they boycotted the legislature party meeting and held a parallel meeting at Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal's residence. Kataria said three weeks have passed since then and the resignation letters are under the Speaker's consideration. "The BJP Legislature Party requests you to accept the resignation letters of the MLAs given voluntarily or the

96% turnout in Congress presidential polls, all eyes on Oct 19 results

More than 9,500 Congress delegates across the country on Monday voted to elect the party's first non-Gandhi president in 24 years, choosing between senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor as successor to Sonia Gandhi. Of the total 9,915 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates that form the electoral college to pick the party chief in a secret ballot, over 9,500 cast their ballot at all PCC offices and the AICC headquarters in Delhi, party's central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry announced here. The results of election will be declared on October 19, after ballots from all PCC offices reach Delhi and the votes polled are mixed before counting. "I have been waiting for a long time for this day," Congress chief Sonia Gandhi told reporters after voting at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters here. Sonia Gandhi, who had been the party president from 1998 to 2017, was made interim president after Rahul Gandhi resigned in 2019 over the party'

About 9,500 PCC delegates cast their votes in Congress presidential polls

About 9,500 Pradesh Congress Committee delegates out of the total around 9,900 cast their votes in the Congress presidential polls, the party's central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry said on Monday. The overall voter turnout was about 96 per cent and in small states, it was nearly 100 per cent, he said at a press conference after voting ended in the Mallikarjun Kharge versus Shashi Tharoor contest. Mistry said by and large the voter turnout in all places was over 90 per cent. "The most satisfactory thing for us was that in all states where polling booths were set up, no adverse incident was reported. This is a big achievement...polls were held in an open process in a peaceful manner," Mistry said. "Congress party has shown what internal democracy is and other parties that want to take a lesson from it, can do so," he said. Mistry said no one should have any apprehensions as it is a secret ballot and nobody will get to know who voted for whom. Kharge is considered t

Delegates choose between Kharge and Tharoor for Congress president

Congress members queued up across the country on Monday to elect their first non-Gandhi president in 24 years, choosing between senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor in an exercise aimed at putting the party on the path to revival. "I have been waiting for a long time for this day," Congress chief Sonia Gandhi told reporters after voting at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters here. Over 9,000 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates form the electoral college to pick the party chief in a secret ballot. The results will be declared on October 19. Voting in the much discussed elections began at 10 am at the AICC headquarters and at polling booths in PCC offices across the country. Satisfied with Congress' presidential poll process. Elections are free, fair, transparent, said Madhusudan Mistry, the central election authority chairperson. Voting is going on smoothly. There are no complaints so far on polling from anywhere, Mistry told PTI. While Soni

Will have no shame in taking advice, support of Gandhi family: Kharge

Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said the Gandhi family has struggled to strengthen the party, and he would have no shame in taking their advice and support in case he is elected party president. Kharge, considered close to the Gandhis, joined Rahul Gandhi in Bellary on Saturday for the Bharat Jodo Yatra and later addressed a public meeting there. The veteran leader said he is the "delegates' candidate" in this polls to the party's highest post, scheduled for October 17. Responding to a question about talk that he would be remote-controlled by the Gandhi family, Kharge said, "They say such things as there is nothing else to tell. The BJP indulges in such a campaign and others follow it. Sonia Gandhi has worked for 20 years in the organisation...Rahul Gandhi was also president...they have struggled for the party and put their strength for its growth." Congress delegates will vote on Monday to elect their party president. Kharge, who is up against party leader Shas

Embrace change, show courage, says Tharoor in final appeal to Cong electors

Calling on electors to show courage to "embrace change", Congress' presidential polls candidate Shashi Tharoor on Sunday asserted that in the change he envisions, the party's "values and loyalties" will remain the same with only the ways of achieving the goals undergoing a transformation. In his "last appeal" to the over 9,000 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates who constitute the electoral college to pick the next AICC chief, Tharoor noted that from his conversations over the last few days he gathered that many of them may have concerns or hesitation about change. While Tharoor has pitched himself as the candidate of change, Kharge is considered the favourite and the 'unofficial official candidate' with a large number of senior leaders backing him. "It is natural to have concerns about change in any organisation of the scale and size like ours, that's why I want to address this directly," Tharoor said in his video appeal which he posted on Twitter. "In the conversations tha

Tharoor's 'netagiri' jibe at Kharge camp on eve of Congress president polls

Congress presidential poll candidate Shashi Tharoor on Sunday took a veiled dig at the Kharge camp saying some colleagues were "indulging in 'netagiri' and telling party workers" that they know whom Sonia Gandhi wants elected. If anyone has "fear or doubt" in their mind, the party has made it clear that it will be a secret ballot, he said and urged the Congress delegates to listen to their hearts while voting to elect the new party president. "I also asked Sonia Gandhi how she views the elections. She said that it is very good for the party, and you fight with full courage ('himmat'), and we will stay neutral. She had said that there will be no official candidate from their side," Tharoor told reporters at the Uttar Pradesh Congress headquarters. The Thiruvananthapuram MP, who is contesting against veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge in the Monday election, emphasised on "decentralisation" in the organisation so that "'all decisions are not taken in Delhi. He said that there should b

As Cong prez poll nears climax, focus to shift on Gehlot-Pilot duel in Raj

After the fate of the electoral fight for the post of the next Congress president between Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor gets sealed on Monday, focus will shift to long-running rivalry between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his bete noire Sachin Pilot for who gets to call the shots in the largely desert state. Late last month, the matter had come to a head after 82 Congress MLAs in Rajasthan did not attend an official legislature party meeting convened for passing a resolution authorising the Congress chief to appoint a successor to Gehlot, who was then about to contest the Congress presidential election, and participated in a parallel meeting at Gehlot loyalist Shanti Dhariwal's residence in Jaipur. While Gehlot has long been known as a loyalist to the first family of the country's oldest party, his position as the Gandhis' confidant is said to have been dented with the developments last month. Pilot, who had rebelled against Gehlot's leadership in 2020, is seen a

Rahul Gandhi to cast vote for Congress President's election in Karnataka

Congress General Secretary in-charge of Communications Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said that Rahul Gandhi, who is currently leading the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka, will cast his vote for the party's Presidential election at the Yatra's campsite in Sanganakallu here. Polls to the party's highest post is scheduled for October 17, and the result will be declared on October 19. "There've been queries on where @RahulGandhi will cast his vote tomorrow for Congress Presidential election. There should be no speculation. He will be voting at the #BharatJodoYatra campsite in Sanganakallu, Ballari along with around 40 other Bharat Yatris who are PCC delegates," Ramesh said in a tweet. Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor is pitted against veteran Congressman Mallikarjun Kharge in this polls for the post of AICC President. The 17th day of Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka today began at Sanganakallu here this morning and will end at Bennikallu.

Congress will touch 150 seats in Karnataka polls, claims DK Shivakumar

Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar on Sunday claimed that the Congress would win more than 150 seats in the Karnataka Assembly elections next year

Congress's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' completes 1,000 km; Rahul slams BJP, RSS

The Congress party's Bharat Jodo Yatra led by former party president Rahul Gandhi has completed 1,000 km on Saturday.