Congress President Election Results 2022 Highlights: ‘We have to save democracy and fight fascist forces together,’ says party chief-elect Kharge

“It was not the first letter of violation that was sent, it was the last letter. I am not aware if any actions were taken…We never doubted the good faith of the party leadership or the election authority wanting to have a free and fair election. By and large, the leadership backed Mr Kharge. That is not surprising. If you have a choice between change and continuity, why would you want to change?,” said Tharoor.

“This was not an individual fight. I wanted to strengthen the party. That is why I fought for the elections. This is a positive step for the party. In the upcoming elections, I am quite confident that the party will do well as all the party workers are charged up now,” said Tharoor.

“I am happy that the party will move forward under a new leadership. I am grateful that more than 1,000 delegates backed me,” said Congress presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor, addressing a presser.

“My heartiest congratulations to the newly elected Congress Party President, Sri @Kharge. With his vast experience as a leader, I am sure he will add value and take the party to newer heights. A proud moment for us Kannadigas as Sri Kharge is quite attached to his grassroots,” Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee’s president D K Shivakumar said in a tweet.

“We have to save the democracy and fight against the fascist forces together. We will strengthen the organisation and take on these challenges. We have to fight against these destructive forces. We have to fight from 'sansad' to 'sadak' and at booth-level,” said Kharge.

“Sonia Gandhi has sacrificed a lot and we have achieved a lot under her leadership,” Kharge on outgoing President Sonia Gandhi.

“My best wishes to my opponent Shashi Tharoor. Both of us worked together. I am very happy,” said Kharge.

“On India's 'Azadi Ki Mahotsav,' our party has protected the constitution and democracy till date. When today the democracy in the country is under attack, we have held a free and fair internal elections in a democratic manner,” said Kharge addressing a press conference, after winning the party's presidential election.

The party will “strengthen” under Kharge's leadership, said Ashok Gehlot.

“After years, polls for Congress president were held and Mallikarjun Kharge won by a huge margin. We believe that the party will move forward under his leadership and we'll be able to rein in the fascist forces,” said CM Bhupesh Baghel. (ANI)

Congress' communications-in-charge Jairam Ramesh took to Twitter and in a series of tweets wrote, ” Shri Mallikarjun Kharge has completed 50 years in electoral politics. He has achieved distinction as a public representative and as a minister in the state and at the Centre. He is a symbol of social empowerment inspired by Nehru, Ambedkar, Indira Gandhi and Devraj Urs. Mr. Kharge's victory in the election for the post of Congress President is a victory for forces that put ideological commitment above personal importance. Instead of being in limelight, Shri Kharge has always been the most outstanding figure in the organization working self-effectively for the interests of the Congress party. Best wishes to all Congressmen.”

On Wednesday, Tharoor reached Kharge's residence to congratulate him.

Congratulating Kharge over his win, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter and wrote, “His vast experience and ideological commitment will serve the party well as he takes on this historic responsibility.”

Congress outgoing president Sonia Gandhi met party president-elect Mallikarjun Kharge and his wife at Kharge's residence.

Outgoing Congress President Sonia Gandhi arrives at party President-Elect Kharge's residence.

On complaints by Tharoor's team related to polling in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Telangana, Mistry said he will respond to the letters point by point.

He said the letter should not have been leaked to the press and Tharoor's team should have directly engaged with the poll authority.

Mistry said there was no basis for the contents in the letter and there was nothing specific in the complaint. (PTI)

Congress' central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry announced after the counting of votes that of the 9,385 votes polled in the Congress president poll, Kharge got 7,897 votes and Shashi Tharoor 1,072 votes, while 416 votes were declared invalid, (PTI)

Congress President-Elect Mallikarjun Kharge will be addressing the press between 4 to 4:30 pm where he is likely to talk about the way ahead for the party and on the Tharoor camp's claim of electoral malpractices in UP.

During a press conference to officially announce the winner, Congress' CEC chairman Madhusudan Mistry responded to Tharoor camp's allegations of rigging in Uttar Pradesh.

Shashi Tharoor reaches Mallikarjun Kharge's residence to congratulate him.

Mallikarjun Kharge won with a huge majority; a win of democracy. I congratulated him. I've faith his experience will benefit the party…9000 elected people elected the President, this was never done before by any party.Oppn must be nervous today: Rajasthan Cong leader Sachin Pilot. (ANI)

After Kharge's win, Tharoor took to Twitter and wrote, “It was a privilege to have received the support of over a thousand colleagues,& to carry the hopes& aspirations of so many well-wishers of Congress across India.”

Mallikarjun Kharge defeated Shashi Tharoor by a comfortable margin.

Rahul Gandhi said, “I will not define the President's role, the President will define my role.”

Reacting to Tharoor camp's letter on 'election fraud' in UP, Rahul Gandhi, who is currently in Telangana for the Bharat Jodo Yatra, said that he was “proud” in the manner in which the party's internal elections were conducted.

Reacting to the Shashi Tharoor's poll agent's letter going viral, the party presidential candidate took to Twitter and wrote, “It was unfortunate that a strictly internal letter to the CEA was leaked to the media.”

Taking a dig at Tharoor, BJP's IT cell head Amit Malviya said that the Congress presidential candidate will be “shamed in the coming days” for fighting against a candidate, backed by the Gandhis.

Complaining about voting malpractice and stating that Shashi Tharoor's polling agents were “threatened,” Chief Election Agent Salman Soz wrote, “We suspect voter fraud in this election. There were delegates who were not present in the Lucknow area on the day of voting and their votes were cast. There were complaints from people about not being allowed to cast their votes since others had already cast their votes.”

In his letter to Returning Officer, Election of the President, Indian National Congress, Madhusudan Mistry, Salman Soz pointed out several irregularities in the polling process in Uttar Pradesh, including the use of “unofficial seals for ballot boxes,” presence of unofficial persons in polling booths,” “voting malpractice,” and “no polling summary sheet.”

“We would like to underline that we have no evidence that Mallikarjun Kharge ji was aware of how his supporters were engaging in electoral malpractice in Uttar Pradesh. We are certain that if he were aware, he would never allow what happened in UP. He would not allow the tainting of an election that is so important for the Indian National Congress,” Chief Election Agent Salman Soz writes to Madhusudan Mistry.

Amid the counting of votes in the Congress Presidential polls, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor's election agent Salman Soz said that he had alerted the party's election authority chief of various issues that have arisen during the election. “We've been in constant communication with Madhusudan Mistry's office, informed them about many different issues, cannot get into its specifics right now,” Soz told news agency ANI.  (Indian Express)

Citing use of unofficial seals in ballot boxes in Uttar Pradesh and several other violations, party presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor's polling agent has written to Madhusudan Mistry and asked “that all votes from UP be deemed invalid”.

Mallikarjun Kharge's polling agent Gaurav Gogoi thanked outgoing party chief Sonia Gandhi for leading the party in “difficult times.”

“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,” Mistry further added.

Mistry said no one should have any apprehensions as it is a secret ballot and nobody will get to know who voted for whom. (PTI)

After the counting began, party presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor thanked everyone who turned the election process into a “historic event.”

While the results to the Congress presidential elections will be declared soon former party chief Rahul Gandhi continued his march from Chagi village in Andhra Pradesh's Kurnool this morning.

Asked about reports of complaints related to polling in Uttar Pradesh and some other states, Tharoor campaign team member Salman Soz said they have raised certain issues with the central election authority (CEA) and have been in communication with CEA chairman Madhusudan Mistry “before polling, on polling day and after that”. (PTI)

The counting agents of Mallikarjun Kharge are Pramod Tiwari, Kodikunil Suresh, Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Nasir Hussain, Kuljit Singh Bagra and Gurdeep Singh Sappal.

On the other hand, the counting agents of Shashi Tharoor are Karti Chidambaram, Atul Chaturvedi and Sumedh Gaikwal.

All sealed ballot boxes from 68 polling stations arrived at the party headquarters in Delhi's Akbar Road and were kept in a “strong room.” After opening the sealed ballot boxes in the presence of the party election chairman Madhusudan Mistry and polling agents of both the candidates, the ballot papers will be mixed at repeated intervals.

The polling day recorded a turnout of 96 per cent, according to the party. 9,500 votes were cast on Monday. The total number of PCC delegates are 9,915.

Counting of votes have begun shortly after Congress Central Election Authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry and Gaurav Gogoi, counting agent of Mallikarjun Kharge, arrived at the party headquarters in Delhi.

Congress Central Election Authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry has arrived at the party headquarters in Delhi. Counting of votes for the party's presidential election will begin shortly .

The Congress presidential election 2022 results are expected to be announced at around 4 pm today.

The counting of votes will begin at 10:00 am at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi.