Congress president election today: Check candidates and result date | List of party chiefs from non-Gandhi family since 1947

Congress president election today: Check candidates and result date | Sitaram Kesri was the last non-Gandhi family leader to lead the Congress party and had one of the most controversial exits from the party.

The election for the post of Congress president may be internal but it will have an impact across the country. Image Source: PTI

Congress president election today: Check candidates and result date | The election for the post of Congress president may be an internal matter but it will have far-reaching consequences, especially ahead of Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat assembly elections later this year. Then, in 2023, elections will be held in Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, and Telangana.

The new party president will have to work on rejuvenating the grand old party. Bringing organisational changes, breaking losing streak year-on-year since 2014 and dealing with the Congress G-23 — or group of 23 leaders will be some of the top priorities for the new chief.

Congress president election date

The polling for election of the new Congress President is scheduled to be held today (Monday), October 17, 2022 at all Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) headquarters from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Central Election Authority of party has decided that no AICC general secretaries/State in-charges, secretaries and joint secretaries would be allowed to cast their vote at their assigned State.

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Secret ballot voting for Congress president election

The Congress presidential polls will be held by a secret ballot. This simply means that absolutely no one will get to know who voted for whom in order to ensure level-playing field for the candidates.

Congress president election candidates

In the polls, Thiruvananthapuram Member of Parliament (MP) Shashi Tharoor is pitted against veteran Congressman Mallikarjun Kharge. Kharge is seen as a favourite for the top party post because of his perceived proximity to the Gandhi family. However, the party and both candidates have maintained that the Gandhis are neutral in the polls.

Congress president election results

The result for the Congress presidential polls will be out on October 19.

Here is a look at those politicians who did not have a Gandhi or Nehru family background but have held party president position thus far since India's independence, as a non-Gandhi family member is expected to lead the grand-old party.

List of Congress presidents from non-Gandhi family since 1947

J.B. Kripalani – 1947

Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya - 1948–1949

Purushottam Das Tandon - 1950

U N Dhebar - 1955-59

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy - 1960-63

K. Kamaraj - 1964-67

S. Nijalingappa - 1968-69

Jagjivan Ram - 1970-71

Shankar Dayal Sharma - 1972-74

Devakanta Barua - 1975-77

Kasu Brahmananda Reddy - 1977–78

P. V. Narasimha Rao - 1992-96

Sitaram Kesri - 1996-98

Sitaram Kesri was the last non-Gandhi family leader to lead the Congress party and had one of the most controversial exits from the party. Sonia has remained the Congress president since 1998, barring her son Rahul Gandhi's two-year stint in between. Sonia led the party to two consecutive victories during general elections in 2004 and 2009 during her presidency.

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