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New Delhi : Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, 80-year-old and veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge  has been elected the 98th President of the Indian National Congress. He is a nine time MLA from Gurmitkal in Karnataka and two-time MP from Gulbarga, besides having been a minister at the Centre and in Karnataka. He is set to be the first non-Gandhi chief of the party in 24 years who was facing Shashi Tharoor in the contest.

His election is historic in several ways:

He is the first Dalit president in 50 years. The last one was Jagjivan Ram in 1970-71

He is the first president from Karnataka since S Nijalingappa in 1969

The first from outside the Gandhi family since 1998.

Mallikarjun Kharge, widely seen to be the "Gandhi-approved" candidate, won 90 per cent of the votes cast on Monday. He scored 7,897 votes while Shashi Tharoor finished with 1,072.

Around 96 per cent of the 9,915 eligible leaders had voted in the election held on Monday, the Congress had said.

Mr Kharge and Mr Tharoor both maintained that the Gandhis are neutral about the election. Mr Tharoor, however, has said that the "odds have been stacked against us as the party leaders and establishment were overwhelmingly with the other candidate".

The election comes three years after Sonia Gandhi agreed to temporarily lead the party when Rahul Gandhi stepped down, taking responsibility for the two consecutive routs of the party in 2014 and 2019 general elections.

It was held after multiple calls for change and hiccups over finding a candidate against Shashi Tharoor. Mr Kharge was a last-minute entrant, persuaded to contest by a section of Central leaders when Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot dropped out of the race even before it started. Seen initially as the front-runner, Mr Gehlot’s candidature went sideways after his loyalist MLAs launched an open revolt in Rajasthan to keep his arch-rival Sachin Pilot from succeeding him as the Chief Minister. Since Independence, the Congress has mostly been led by a member of the Gandhi family, who were elected unanimously. Elections were held only six times as there was more than one candidate - starting in 1939 when P Sitaramayya, backed by Mahatma Gandhi, lost to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.