Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday congratulated senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on his election as the new party president 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 won the Congress presidential election as he got 7,897 votes as against his opponent Shashi Tharoor who received 1,072 votes.
Kharge will become the first non-Gandhi to head the party in 24 years at a time the 137-year-old party is struggling to reverse its slide in the country's electoral politics.
The veteran leader said he will formally take charge on October 26.
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.
