Mass resignations in Congress, after Rahul Gandhi remains adamant on decision to step down

Jun 28: A flurry of resignations has emerged within the Congress, following party president Rahul Gandhi's adamancy to resign from the post after facing a humiliating defeat in the general elections.

As many as 145 office bearers have tendered a mass resignation during a meeting conducted in the Congress office and set an example for the senior members of the party to follow the suit of taking the moral responsibility behind dismal performance in the 17th Lok Sabha elections.

Deepak Babaria, Congress General Secretary in-charge of Madhya Pradesh today resigned from his post.

Meanwhile, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee, Girish Chodankar Congress took to Twitter and said, "Firm decision of Rahul Gandhi ji to not withdraw resignation as Congress President, morally does not permit me to continue. The defeat is our collective responsibility, hence I hereby tender my resignation forthwith as Goa Congress President."

While Gandhi is sticking to his decision to resign, on the other hand, an in-house tussle has also begun between the seniors and youth leaders of the Congress. Somewhere, the battle in the party is between 'elderly vs youth'.

On Friday, the chief of Congress' legal department, Vivek Tankha resigned from the post and asked others to follow his example.

In a series of tweets on Friday, Tankha said, "We all should submit our resignations from party positions and give Rahul ji a free hand to choose his team. I welcome Mr Kamalnath's statement to that effect. I unequivocally submit my resignation as AICC Dept chairman Law, RTI & HR. Party cannot afford a stalemate for too long."

Similarly, Rajesh Lilothia, who was a party candidate from North West Delhi, resigned as the Delhi Congress Working President. Following suit, Secretary of Overseas Congress Virendra Vashisht and former Secretary Prakash Joshi also stepped down.

The other prominent names who have resigned were Bihar Congress Secretary in-charge Virendra Rathod, Odisha Congress's in-charge secretary Anil Chaudhary, former secretary in-charge Prakash Joshi, and media panellist Sanjay Chopra. All these leaders were active in the party when Gandhi was the general secretary in-charge of the Youth Congress.

Speaking to ANI, Secretary of Overseas Congress Virendra Vashisht said, "We have resigned from our posts in 'honour of Rahul Gandhi'. We want Rahul Gandhi to remain on the post of Congress President."

Former Congress Secretary Prakash Joshi, who was present in a meeting at the Congress headquarters here today, said that the leaders resigned as Gandhi was not the only reason behind the disastrous defeat in the recently held Lok Sabha elections and maintained that the entire party is responsible behind the loss.

Joshi further said, "The senior leaders should also accept the truth and submit the resignations."

A few days ago, Joshi had posted a post on a social networking site against senior Congress leader Anand Sharma, alleging him of destroying the image of Rahul Gandhi.

The present situation showed that a youth faction supporting Gandhi has started criticising the senior leaders of the party for not taking the moral responsibility of the defeat.

Gandhi, who has announced his decision to quit from the party post following its dismal performance in the general elections, had earlier expressed his unhappiness that none of the state leaders had taken responsibility.

On Wednesday, the workers of Youth Congress gathered outside the residence of Gandhi in the national capital, appealing him not to step down from the party's president post.

Later, Gandhi, who met leaders, asserted that he will not remain at the president post of the Congress but will continue to work actively for the party.

However, according to sources, Gandhi has reiterated that he will not change his decision of resigning from the post.

Gandhi, who became the party president in 2017, offered to step down from his post at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on May 25, taking moral responsibility for Congress' dismal performance in the 17th general elections.

However, his resignation offer was unanimously rejected by the CWC.

So far, several top leaders have met Gandhi and urged him to continue to lead the party.

Despite senior members making serious attempts to convince the 49-year-old party chief to rethink his decision, he remains unfazed.

The Congress won 52 seats in the recent general elections, which is just eight more than 2014 in the outgoing Lok Sabha.