Deve Gowda, Kumaraswamy greet Kharge on becoming Cong prez

Bengaluru: Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and his son and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday congratulated veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on getting elected as the Congress president.

The JD(S) first family greeted Kharge and wished him success.

“I heartily congratulate my friend and colleague of many decades, Mallikarjun @kharge, on being elected @INCIndia President. This is a proud and historic moment for the Congress and also Karnataka. May God give him the strength to take his party to new heights across India,” Gowda tweeted.

“Congratulations to Mr @kharge, a senior politician of the state, veteran Congress leader, who has been elected AICC President. Mr Kharge has a vast political experience. His unwavering loyalty to the party has brought him to this high office. I wish that his party will benefit from Mr Kharge,” Kumaraswamy said in his tweet.

The Congress on Wednesday elected Kharge as its president, the first non-Gandhi to head the party in 24 years.

A staunch Gandhi family loyalist from Karnataka, the 80-year-old leader defeated Shashi Tharoor in an electoral contest by bagging nearly 84 percent of votes in the party presidential election.

Kharge got 7,897 votes and Tharoor 1,072 votes, while 416 votes were declared invalid, Congress’ central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry said at a press conference at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi.