Chennai, Oct 17 (PTI) Brisk polling was witnessed at the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee office here as elections for the next All India Congress Committee chief got underway here on Monday.

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Senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor are in the fray as the grand old party is all set to have a non-Gandhi president in over 24 years.

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In Tamil Nadu, a total of 711 voters are eligible to cast their vote. The existing auditorium at Sathyamurthy Bhavan has been converted into a polling camp.

Some of the early voters included TNCC president K S Alagiri, senior Congress leaders Karti P Chidambaram and Peter Alphonse.

Alagiri, after casting his vote said the elections were being held in a democratic manner.

He further said he was casting his vote for a second time in the party presidential poll.

Karti Chidambaram after casting his vote, backed the candidature of Tharoor, saying people were looking for someone who has a fresh perspective.

Tharoor is articulate, a three-time Parliamentarian and has a huge fan following, he added.

Sathyamurthy Bhavan or Bhavan as fondly called by the cadres, is one of the 65 polling booths located across the country for the election which is taking place for the sixth time in the party's 137-year history.

Kharge is considered the firm favourite due to his perceived proximity to the party chief Sonia Gandhi, leader Rahul Gandhi and has also got the backing from the senior leaders while Tharoor, the MP from Thiruvananthapuram has pitched himself as the candidate of change.

During the campaign for the polls, Tharoor raised issues of uneven playing field while both candidates and the party have maintained that the Gandhis are neutral and that there is no 'official mandate.'

Kharge and Tharoor not only possess contrasting demeanours but have had an equally disparate political journey.

The 80-year old Kharge is a grassroots politician and a hardcore loyalist of the Gandhi family while the 66-year old Tharoor - articulate, erudite and suave - is known for speaking his mind and joined the Congress in 2009 after a long stint at the United Nations.

Kharge was born in a poor family at Varavatti in Bidar district, did his schooling and BA as well as Law in Gulbarga, Tharoor was born in London and has a phenomenal education background.

Results of Monday's elections will be out on October 19.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)