'Congress' revival has begun': Tharoor tweets as stage set for a Non-Gandhi president

New Delhi, Oct 17: On a day Congress is set to have its first non-Gandhi chief in over 20 years, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor posted a cryptic on Twitter saying some people play safe in order not to lose. The Congress leader said that the revival of the grand old party has begun whatever the outcome.

"Spoke to Mallikarjun Khare this morning to wish him well and to reaffirm my respect for him and our shared devotion to the success of Congress," tweeted Tharoor.

"Some people play safe in order not to lose. But if you just play safe, you will definitely lose," Tharoor said in another tweet.

Tharoor also thanked Salman Anees Soz and a Congress volunteer, who hailed the Congress leader's courage to brave the odds.

"Thank you @SalmanSoz & our dedicated team of @incIndia volunteers who braved the odds & worked impossible hours to get our message out. Today our voting colleagues will choose the President they want. Whatever the outcome, Congress' revival has begun," he said.

With no one from Gandhi family in the race for the party president post, Congress set to have a non-Gandhi president in more than 24 years.

The president of the Congress party will be elected today with 9,200 party delegates expected to cast their votes. The battle is between senior Congress leaders, Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor.

The last such election took place 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.