Who Is Mallikarjun Kharge, The New Congress President

The Indian National Congress announced Mallikarjun Kharge as its new national president.

Kharge won the inner party election after getting 7,897 votes out of a total 9,385 votes. His only opponent was Thiruvanathapuram Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who won 1,072 votes.

Tharoor took to Twitter and congratulated Kharge on becoming the Congress president, wishing him "all success in that task."

Kharge is the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and a member of the upper house from Karnataka. He previously served as the union railway minister from 2013 to 2014.

With the victory, Kharge also became the first non-Gandhi in more than two decades to become the Congress party president.