Newly elected Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will take over his role on Oct 26

The Newly elected Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will take over his new assignment at a function at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters on October 26. The Congress on Wednesday elected ‘loyalist’ Mallikarjun Kharge as its new president, the first non-Gandhi to head the 137-year-old party in 24 years and succeed long-time chief Sonia Gandhi.

The 80-year-old Kharge trounced his 66-year-old rival, Shashi Tharoor bagging over 84 per cent of the votes in the presidential election. Kharge polled 7,897 Pradesh Congress Committee delegate votes out of 9,385, while Tharoor bagged 1072. He was earlier the Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha. He has been a Union minister for almost a decade.