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

Agencies
June 29, 2019

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.

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News Network
July 17,2020
New Delhi, Jul 17:  Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that as India's COVID-19 tally has crossed 10,00,000 mark and issued a warning that by August 10, more than 20,00,000 people may be infected in the country. He called on the government to take concrete steps to control the pandemic.
 
Taking to Twitter, Gandhi marked his earlier tweet from July 14 that stated: "This week the figure will cross 10,00,000 in our country."
"The tally has crossed 10,00,000 mark. If COVID-19 continues to spread at the same speed, by August 10, more than 20,00,000 people will be infected in the country.
 
The government must take concrete, planned steps to stop the epidemic," he tweeted today.
With the highest single-day spike of 32,695 cases and 606 deaths, India's COVID-19 tally on Thursday reached 9,68,876, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday.
 
The total number of COVID-19 cases includes 3,31,146 active cases, 6,12,815 cured/discharged/migrated and 24,915 deaths. 

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News Network
June 22,2020

New Delhi, June 22: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be “mindful of the implication of his words” as a controversy raged over his “no intrusion” remark about the violent face-off with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley.

“The Prime Minister must always be mindful of the implications of his words and declarations on our Nation’s security as also strategic and territorial interests,” Singh said in a statement here as Chinese media welcomed Modi’s ‘no intrusion’  remarks contending that it may lead to a de-escalation of tensions between China and India.

Congress has been maintaining that Modi’s assertions at Friday’s all-party meeting that neither was there any intrusion nor was any Indian post captured ran counter to the statements made by the Indian Army and the External Affairs Ministry.

Singh said the prime minister cannot allow his words to be used by China as a vindication of its position and all organs of the government should work together to tackle this crisis and prevent it from escalating further.

“We remind the Government that disinformation is no substitute for diplomacy or decisive leadership. The truth cannot be suppressed by having pliant allies spout comforting but false statements,” the former prime minister said.

Singh said the prime minister and the government should rise to the occasion to ensure justice for Colonel B Santosh and the army jawans who made the supreme sacrifice and resolutely defended the nation’s territorial integrity.

“To do any less would be a historic betrayal of the people’s faith,” the former prime minister said.

“At this moment, we stand at historic crossroads. Our Government’s decisions and actions will have serious bearings on how the future generations perceive us,” Singh said.

Singh said China was brazenly and illegally seeking to claim parts of Indian territory such as the Galwan Valley and the Pangong Tso Lake by committing multiple incursions between April 2020 till date.  

“We cannot and will not be cowed down by threats and intimidation nor permit a compromise with our territorial integrity,” said Singh. 

The former prime minister said this was a moment where “we must stand together as a nation and be united in our response to this brazen threat.”

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News Network
June 3,2020

New Delhi, Jun 3: India registered its highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases on Wednesday with 8,909 more cases reported in the last 24 hours, taking the country's tally to 2,07,615, while the death toll rose to 5,815 according to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood to 1,01,497 while 1,00,303 people have been cured/discharged/migrated.

According to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry, out of all the states, Maharashtra has recorded the highest number of coronavirus cases with 72,300 patients followed by Tamil Nadu with 24,586 cases.

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