Gandhi family control of India’s Congress will endure

Significance

The winner will succeed interim leader Sonia Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi, Sonia’s son and a former party president himself, has resisted calls to run. The contest will be a straight fight between Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor.

Impacts

• Congress would only join a broad opposition front for the next general election if it were allowed to lead it.
• Factionalism will remain a major problem for the party.
• The leadership poll should help make the party’s internal workings more democratic, even if the dominance of the Gandhis sways the outcome.