New Delhi, Oct. 19: Mallikarjun Kharge has been elected the Congress party’s president in India beating rival Shashi Tharoor by a huge margin. He secured 7,897 votes to 1,072 received by Tharoor, The Wire reported.

Tharoor released a statement soon after the results were announced, conveying his “warm congratulations” to Kharge and remarking that it is a privilege to be a part of the party.

In his statement, Tharoor thanked all party members, laying special emphasis on the work of the karyakartas who helped conduct the elections. He also thanked interim Congress chief Sonia Gandhi for “being our anchor in our most crucial moments” before thanking Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra and the Gandhi family as a whole.

While the results were only announced around 2 pm today (October 19), former party chief Rahul Gandhi may have let the result slip earlier.

When asked about his role in the party earlier today, Gandhi said that the party president is the supreme authority in the Congress and whoever gets elected will decide on the way forward.

“Please ask Kharge ji, Sonia ji,” Gandhi said in response to a question at a press conference in Andhra Pradesh, where the leader is currently leading the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra.

An apparent slip of the tongue, Gandhi’s remarks will only further fuel the rumors that Kharge is the party’s ‘unofficial official candidate’ in the party’s internal polls, votes for which were still being counted when he made the remarks.

The party’s high command has consistently denied the allegations, although Kharge’s rival in the polls, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, has been outspoken about the fact that the elections were not being fought on a level playing field.

Earlier in the day, Tharoor alleged “serious irregularities” in the election process in Uttar Pradesh and sought for votes from the state to be cancelled.-Agencies