'Election day' in Congress– delegates choose between Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor for party president

New Delhi: 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 Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, voted in Delhi, Rahul Gandhi, who is on the Bharat Jodo Yatra, did so at a meeting room container converted into a polling booth at the yatra campsite in Ballari in Karnataka.

Kharge, 80, a Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka tipped to win the election because of his proximity to the Gandhis, cast his ballot at the Karnataka Congress office in Bengaluru. His electoral rival, the party’s 66-year-old Thiruvananthapuram MP Tharoor, who has pitched himself as the candidate of change, voted in the Kerala capital.

Kharge said in Bengaluru that Tharoor called him up and wished him good luck and he wished him the same. The two, he said on Twitter, were contesting internal polls on a friendly note to strengthen the Congress to build a stronger and better nation for the future generations.

In Thiruvananthapuram, Tharoor said he is confident of victory even though the odds were stacked against him as leaders and the establishment were with the other candidate.

"India needs a strong Congress. I did not contest for my political future, but for that of the Congress and India. I am here as a viable alternative. I am standing for change. A change in how the party functions," he said.

"Spoke to Mallikarjun Kharge this morning to wish him well and to reaffirm my respect for him and our shared devotion to the success of Congress," Tharoor added in a tweet, noting that the Congress’ revival had begun.

Earlier in the morning, he said, "Some people play safe in order not to lose. But if you just play safe, you will definitely lose", using the hashtag "#ThinkTomorrowThinkTharoor".

Electors in the Congress presidential polls have been asked to put a tick mark against their candidate in the ballot paper after Tharoor's team took up with the party's top poll body the issue of its earlier directive that voters write "1" to reflect their preference. This, the team said, may lead to confusion.

As the election process continued, the Gandhis dominated the discourse in many places.

Senior leader Ambika Soni told reporters after voting that the Gandhi family cannot be ignored and the party workers' attachment with them would remain.

"The Gandhi family will continue to play a very important role. Sonia Gandhi will be demitting her office after the new president is elected but there is no doubt that she has been our leader and will continue to be our leader. We will look towards her for inspiration and guidance from time to time," added Congress general secretary Mukul Wasnik said.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, once a frontrunner for the post said in Jaipur that his relationship with the Gandhi family will be the "same for life", even after October 19.

Attacking the BJP, Congress spokesperson Ajoy Kumar said the party’s elections marked a historical moment.

"None of us know how J P Nadda got selected, two-and-a-half people decided - one Modi, one Shah and a half RSS. So such a party commenting on polls is a joke," he said.

Uttar Pradesh MLA Virendra Chaudhary echoed him.

"The atmosphere at the party office is that of a festival. I can say that if democracy is alive (in any political party), it is the Congress," the Congress' MLA from Pharenda told PTI in Lucknow.

In Chennai, where the Sathyamurthy Bhavan was converted into a polling camp, TNCC president K S Alagiri, who was one of the early voters, said the elections were being held in a democratic manner.

His party colleague Karti Chidambaram backed Tharoor, saying people were looking for someone who has a fresh perspective.

Tharoor is articulate, a three-time Parliamentarian and has a huge fan following, he added.

Senior Kerala leaders, including KPCC chief K Sudhakaran, V D Satheesan, Ramesh Chennithala and K Muraleedharan have also openly declared their preference. They said Kharge is better suited for the post as he has risen through the ranks and is more experienced than Tharoor.

Tharoor has on many occasions said Congress leaders in Kerala appeared to be against him.

The political journeys of the two dramatis personae in the Congress presidential election have been disparate.

Kharge is a grassroots politician and a hardcore loyalist of the Gandhi family while Tharoor, articulate, a social media pioneer and often outspoken, joined the Congress only in 2009 after a long stint at the United Nations.

Kharge was born in a poor family at Varavatti in Bidar district and did his schooling and BA as well as Law in Gulbarga. Tharoor was born in London and studied at Delhi University’s St Stephen’s College before going to the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in the US for his master's and doctorate.

Though Tharoor raised issues of an uneven playing field during the campaign, both candidates, as well as the party, have maintained the Gandhis are neutral and that there is no "official candidate".

The lines during the campaign were clearly drawn.

Ahead of the polling, Kharge had said in Bengaluru that he would have no shame in taking the advice and support of the Gandhi family in running the party affairs, in case he becomes its president.

Tharoor, on his part, took a veiled dig at some senior leaders supporting Kharge, saying in Lucknow that some colleagues were "indulging in 'netagiri' and telling party workers that they know who Sonia Gandhi wants elected.

The last contested election for the post of Congress president was in 2000 when Sonia Gandhi handed Jitendra Prasada a crushing defeat.

The Nehru-Gandhi family has been at the helm of the party for about 40 years in years since Independence. The five family members to take on the mantle of party president are Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.