The Congress asserted it was the only political party in the country that has repeatedly held free, fair and transparent elections for the post of president as around 9,500 of the total 9,915 delegates voted on Monday to choose between Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor.

Both sides expressed satisfaction with the polling arrangements at 36 places across the country and the party’s Central Election Authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry said they received no complaints about any unfair practice.

“We have yet again conducted a free and democratic election to elect our president. Other political parties in the country can learn from this shining example of inner-party democracy,” Mistry said.

Party’s communications chief Jairam Ramesh endorsed this saying: “We have demonstrated that we are the only political party which has conducted a free, fair and transparent election for the post of its president and we have respected the independence and the professionalism of the Central Election Authority, which is more than what can be said of the Prime Minister and the home minister because of the manner in which they have completely destroyed the independence and professionalism of the Election Commission.”

Mallikarjun Kharge casts his vote at the KPCC office in Bangalore on Monday. PTI

It is not open to dispute that political parties created at the national and state levels in the recent decades have not shown any inclination towards internal democracy. While the BJP does not hold an election to choose its president and the leadership decides on a name, most regional parties operate like personal fiefs controlled by a single individual.

All these parties, however, attack the Congress for dynastic control.

Shashi Tharoor casts his vote at the party office in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday PTI

Although the Congress too has chosen its president through consensus most of the time, there have been several elections as well, both before and after Independence. In 2000, Jitendra Prasada had fought against Sonia Gandhi while in 1997, Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot had contested against Sitaram Kesri.

On Monday, interim president Sonia Gandhi voted at the party headquarters along with senior leaders Manmohan Singh, P. Chidambaram and 84 others.

Fifty delegates, including Rahul Gandhi who had resigned as party president after the 2019 election debacle, voted at the Bharat Jodo Yatra campsite in Karnataka.

Mistry iterated that the counting process on October 19 would be strictly fair — all ballots will be mixed to ensure no one knows who and which state voted for whom.

Sonia, who was extremely reluctant to continue to lead the party after being at the helm for around 20 years, heaved a sigh of relief on Monday. After the voting, she said: “I have been waiting for a long time for this day.”

After resigning in 2019, Rahul had asked the party to choose a president from outside the Gandhi family but the majority of leaders forced Sonia to return in a stop-gap arrangement.

While Kharge refused to speculate about the result, saying his prediction will invite criticism that “I have too much ego”, Tharoor exuded confidence of victory.

Tharoor said the party workers appreciated his agenda but the only hurdle was their hesitation to accept change. “Only question that matters today is whether our party workers have the courage to embrace change,” he said, adding that courage was at the core of Congress party, which took on the British empire.

In a video message, Tharoor said: “Whatever the outcome might be, I believe every vote for me provides a signal not just to the party but the country that the Congress party is willing to change. When you (voters) are in the polling booth with your secret ballot, there is no other force there with you except your own conscience and your own courage. I hope you exercise not only your vote but also our legacy of courage.”

Though Kharge and Tharoor talked to each other in the morning and hoped to work together whatever be the outcome, there is heartburn in the party because the Thiruvananthapuram MP repeatedly talked of the absence of a level playing field and obliquely hinted at some force trying to manipulate the election.

One leader pointed to his reference to “courage” and “conscience” in the appeal to delegates, arguing that the tenor of his campaign wasn’t in tune with the nature of an internal election.

Tharoor ran an energetic campaign without any substantial support from senior leaders. On Monday, he tweeted: “Some people play safe in order not to lose. But if you just play safe, you will definitely lose.”

His supporter Karti Chidambaram claimed people would be surprised by the resonance across the country and support that Tharoor would get in the election. While victory is unlikely, Tharoor would shake the gigantic organisation even by ensuring a serious contest.