NEW DELHI: The polls to choose the new chief of the Congress party will be held today. Voting is from 10 am to 4 pm. 68 booths have been arranged at the AICC and state PCC headquarters.

There are a total of 9,308 voters. There will be one booth for 200 voters. After voting, ballot boxes will be flown to Delhi. The votes will be counted on Wednesday (October 19). Candidates Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor will vote in Karnataka and Kerala respectively. It is after 22 years that the Congress is electing a president through elections.

No matter who wins, it will be two and a half decades later that someone from outside the Gandhi family is becoming the president. Meantime, it is not yet clear whom the Gandhi family is supporting.

The campaign ended yesterday. Although Kharge is sure to win, all are eager to know how many votes will Tharoor get. The Kharge faction believes that Tharoor will not get more than 300 votes. However, Tharoor's hope is the vote of the youth who stand for a change in the party.

Rahul Gandhi and more than 40 activists will vote at the camp site of Bharat Jodo Yatra at Sanganakallu in Bellary, Karnataka. Leaders like Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Priyanka Gandhi will cast their votes at the AICC headquarters.