Been waiting for a long time: Sonia Gandhi as Congress votes for non-Gandhi president

New Delhi, Oct 17: After casting her vote for the Congress presidential election, party interim chief Sonia Gandhi said on Monday that she has been waiting for a "long time" for the process.

In a video shared by news agency ANI, Sonia Gandhi, accompanied by her daughter Priyanka Gandhi looked all smiles and said "I have been waiting for a long time for this thing." The Congress leader's reply came after she was asked if she is happy.

The voting to elect the next Congress president, the first non-Gandhi in two decades, is underway at the AICC headquarters in Delhi and at party's polling booths in state offices across the country.

Over 9,000 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates form the electoral college to pick the party chief in a secret ballot as senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor are in the race to occupy the party's top post.

The poll for the Congress president post was last held in 2000 in which Sonia Gandhi was pitched against Jitendra Prasada. In the election, Sonia bagged 7,448 of the 7,700 votes while Prasada managed to get only 94. The remaining votes were invalid or not polled.