New Delhi: With 9,500 Congress members from across the country voting on Monday to choose between Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor as their next party president, outgoing Congress chief Sonia Gandhi said she had been "waiting" for this day for a long time.
The voting witnessed around 96 per cent turnout and the results would be declared on Wednesday.
For the first time in the past 24 years, no member of the Gandhi family is a candidate for the Congress party's top post. While Tharoor pitched himself as the candidate for change, Kharge is being seen as the "establishment" candidate for his proximity to the Gandhi family.
While talking to reporters after the end of voting, Congress Central Election Authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry said no untoward incident occurred during the voting, which was held to elect the 37th president of the party, happening for the sixth time in the Grand Old Party's 137-year-old history.
The voting began at 10 am at the AICC headquarters as well as at the party's polling booths in state offices across the country. Sonia Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra came together at the AICC headquarters and cast their vote. When asked by reporters about the poll, the outgoing party president said: "I have been waiting for a long time for this day."
Giving details about the voting, Mistry said: "About 9,500 Pradesh Congress Committee delegates out of the total around 9,900 cast their votes in the Congress presidential polls."
The overall voter turnout was about 96 per cent and in small states, it was nearly 100 per cent, he said, adding that by and large, the voter turnout in all places was over 90 per cent.
"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," he said, adding that no one should have any apprehensions as it is a secret ballot and nobody will get to know who voted for whom.
Calling the poll 'democratic and transparent', Congress leader Sachin Pilot said the party has set an example for the country by conducting open, democratic and transparent elections. "The party proved that there is always a free and fair election for the position of the party president. The Congress party has set an example for the country by conducting open, democratic and transparent elections," Pilot said.
While Kharge has been considered the Gandhi family's 'unofficial official candidate' with a large number of senior leaders backing him, Tharoor pitched himself as the candidate of change.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also cast his ballot in the poll at the party headquarters and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram was the first to vote at the AICC headquarters.