New Delhi: After the Congress’ poor performance during the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Rahul Gandhi is hell-bent on resigning from his post in the party. He had already made the offer to quit as party president but this was unanimously rejected by senior leaders during a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting held on Saturday, May 25.
Sources say that while an adamant Rahul insisted that he did not want to remain the party’s president, he professed that he would continue their fight and remain a “disciplined” party soldier.
While other leaders such as UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra and former prime minister Manmohan Singh asked him to reconsider his decision, they said that his personal wish must be respected. Reportedly, his sister Priyanka also asked him to give the party some time to come up with an alternative plan.
Sources also said that when the question was brought up if Priyanka could take up the mantle, Rahul reportedly told them not to “drag” his sister into the matter and said that it isn’t necessary for a member of the Gandhi family to be president of the party.
It can be recalled that the Congress party received a severe blow in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the BJP and its allies. The results of the elections were announced on May 23, where the NDA came out on top with a sweeping majority of 353, while the UPA and others won 92 and 97 seats respectively.
It can also be recalled that Rahul Gandhi lost in Amethi to the BJP’s Smriti Irani, a seat that has traditionally gone to the Gandhi family. He, however, won in Kerala’s Wayanad against the CPI’s P P Suneer.
