'Ask Khargeji': Rahul Gandhi blabs about new Congress President before election results announced
Mallikarjun Kharge saw immense support from across the party where leaders, both veterans and young guns, decided to give up on their individual roles in the Congress and campaign for the Dalit heavyweight.
FollowRahul Gandhi on Wednesday (October 19) referred to veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge as the party President even before the result of the party election was announced and he was declared the winner.Â
Addressing a press conference, Rahul Gandhi said, "The new president will decide what my role will be,", adding, "Ask Kharge ji and Sonia ji," referring to Mallikarjun Kharge and interim chief Sonia Gandhi.
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The veteran Congress leader was widely seen as the Gandhis' choice against Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor as the party got its first non-Gandhi chief in over two decades.
Rahul Gandhi, who led the party's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' into Andhra Pradesh's Kulnoor on Wednesday, was speaking to reporters around 1:30 pm, at a time when the counting was done but results were not yet declared.
On October 17, when Sonia Gandhi came to vote, she stated that she had been waiting for this day for a long time.
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On several occasions, the interim Congress President had expressed her intention to step down from the top job in the party but owing to the internal crisis, the COVID pandemic and the reluctance of Rahul Gandhi to take charge, internal elections were called off.
For Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor, it had been a fierce battle where Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and party stalwart Digvijaya Singh also contemplated contesting but decided to not jump into fray once Kharge decided to throw in his hat.
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After 22 years, Congress held internal elections and even through the contenders maintained it's a "friendly contest", it was fought with both sides leaving no stone unturned.
Mallikarjun Kharge saw immense support from across the party where leaders, both veterans and young guns, decided to give up on their individual roles in the Congress and campaign for the Dalit heavyweight.
Kharge ended up steering the entire campaign in his favour where Tharoor felt that there was a sense of preferential treatment meted out to his opponent.
