Congress presidential election: From date, candidates, result date to list of party chiefs, all you need to know

Even though the election for the position of Congress president is an internal one, it will have a significant impact, particularly in light of the upcoming assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Next year the elections will be held in Telangana, Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, and Karnataka in 2023.

The grand old party will need to be revitalised and the new leader's key goals will be implementing organisational changes, ending the party's annual losing streak since 2014, and dealing with the Congress G-23, or group of 23 leaders.

Election dates

On Monday, October 17, 2022, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., voting will take place at all Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) headquarters for the election of the new Congress President. No AICC general secretaries, state in-charges, secretaries, or joint secretaries will be permitted to vote in their designated state, according to a decision made by the party's Central Election Authority.

Candidates

Shashi Tharoor, an MP from Thiruvananthapuram, is competing against seasoned Congressman Mallikarjun Kharge in the polls. Because of Kharge's alleged closeness to the Gandhi family, he is considered a favourite for the top party position. However, the party and both candidates have maintained that the Gandhis are neutral in the polls.

Secret ballot

The presidential election for the Congress will be conducted in secret. This simply implies that, in order to preserve a level playing field for the candidates, nobody will ever find out who voted for whom.

Result dates

On October 19, the results of the presidential election in the Congress will be announced.

List of non Gandhi leaders of Congress

As a non-Gandhi family member is anticipated to lead the grand-old party, here is a look at the politicians who did not come from the Gandhi or Nehru families but have held party president positions thus far since India's independence.

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.