Voting ends in Kharge-Tharoor contest for Congress President

Voting to elect the next Congress president drew to a close on Monday evening, with 9,000 delegates splitting their votes between Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and veteran leader P Chidambaram also cast their votes in the race along with many other party bigwigs.

"I have been waiting for a long time for this day," said Sonia Gandhi, who was present at the AICC headquarters along with Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi.


Previous Congress President, Rahul Gandhi, is on his country-wide Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Voting began at 10 am at the AICC headquarters and at the party's polling booths in state offices across the country.

Kharge has been labelled the frontrunner in the race, with many suggesting he has the backing of the Gandhi family, despite Kerala leader Tharoor pitching himself as a candidate for change.