New Delhi: The Congress Saturday unanimously rejected Rahul Gandhi’s resignation as president and, instead, authorised him to restructure the party following its disastrous performance in the Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress Working Committee (CWC), which met to discuss the party’s future, voted in favour of Gandhi staying on and passed a resolution calling on his “leadership and guidance in these challenging times”.
“The CWC unanimously called upon the Congress President, Shri Rahul Gandhi to lead the party in its ideological battle and to champion the cause of India’s youth, the farmers, the SC/ST/OBC’s, the Minorities, the poor and the deprived sections,” the resolution read.
However, sources said Rahul Gandhi continues to be adamant about stepping down, saying it is non-negotiable.
The Congress managed to improve its 2014 tally by just eight seats, winning 52 of the 542 seats. The BJP won 303, giving the Narendra Modi-led government a brute-majority second term.
In its resolution, the party said it accepted the people’s mandate, and assured it will continue to “fight against forces that thrive on hatred and division”.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the party also thanked its voters who believed in them and added that the party will work positively as the opposition.
Surjewala also said the CWC had authorised Gandhi to set in motion appropriate measures required for the party at the earliest.
The resolution of CWC regarding @RahulGandhi’s resignation @ThePrintIndia pic.twitter.com/UdoPQObcqF
— Neelam Pandey (@NPDay) May 25, 2019
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said all leaders who were part of the CWC agreed that changes in the party should take place, hinting at a possible organisational reshuffle.
Acknowledging Gandhi’s role, he said the party president has always worked for the Congress and raised relevant issues. “He always fought and gave a good leadership which might not have been visible on TV but was very much there,” he said.
Also read: How Indian voters saw Congress – a laid-back party with no leadership & agenda
Apart from the slightly improved seat count, the Congress failed to open its account in 18 states and all union territories. However, party leader A.K. Anthony said he didn’t see this as a disastrous performance. “But yes, we didn’t perform as per expectations,” he added.
Top Congress leaders from across the country were part of the Congress Working Committee meeting to review the party’s drubbing in the polls. The meeting was chaired by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, and attended by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Uttar Pradesh (East) in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and chief ministers of three party-ruled states — Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh — and of the Union Territory Puducherry.
The meeting of the party’s highest decision-making body was expected to go into the reasons behind the Congress’ debacle and discuss what didn’t work for it.
Also read: Congress is dying. Here’s what could replace it
Senior leader and former Union minister P. Chidambaram was also present in the meeting alongside other party colleagues including A.K. Antony, Ahmed Patel, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sheila Dikshit, Mallikarjun Kharge, Ambika Soni, Anand Sharma and Jyotiraditya Scindia.
Punjab CM Amarinder Singh and Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot also attended the meeting along with their Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel.
On Friday, some Congress leaders already sent their resignations. Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar and Odisha Congress president Niranjan Patnaik have announced their resignations from the post.
(With PTI inputs)
Also read: Rahul Gandhi must decide if Congress is a European NGO or a party in nationalist India
Justin here is just furious as Modi put an end to non registered NGO that were funding conversions
Its not the first time theres been lynching, people forget that
There were serial blasts in the country when Congis were in power, people forget that
Inflation is down, petrol is at same price it was in August 2013 , Economy is growing and the world respects India more
People are blind to this all…when you hate somebody for something, you hate them for everyting and forget that the past was worse. Too bad…Modi is here to stay
The BJP and RSS with the help of Modi and Amitsha manufactured the historical with thourugjh marketing plan. They did everything to make sure they remain in power. They should thank the media and the election commission who supported them from the word go. The fourth pillar of democracy looked completely one-sided. They never highlighted the havoc created in judiciary, education, and most importantly in the civil society.
So many intelligent disappeared and a few of them murdered. Many Dalits and Muslims were lynched, blasphemy against Mahatma was hailed, millions lost jobs, and we don’t understand how media hail the leaders who manufactured violence to polarised the electorate. Shame on the fourth pillar of democracy.
Why should Rahul Gandhi resign?? The election commissioner who allowed Modi to become Hindu saint even the election was going on.
The media reporters should resign for spreading evil propoganda.
Finally the people who voted for BJP should feel ashamed for electing a corporate supported mafia..
Predictable farcical exercise. LoL would be the response to it.
The CWC is mostly the coterie of the family, so their obeisance is not surprising. The fundamental reason for the Congress party’s decimation is simple: it is an anti-Hindu party in a Hindu majority country. And that is because, the family is anti-Hindu. Use as many buzz words and clever semantic acrobatics as you want, but you can’t escape this simple fact. It is a different matter that the media, academia, NGOs and some parties refuse to see this simple fact because their livelihood depends on keeping their eyes closed or, worse, peddling lies.
It’s very hard to understand how you label people anti Indian ..
Anti Indian is one who tries to destabilize constitution and annihilate minorities to get the support of majority.
You should learn NAZI Nationalism to understand Hindutva and never ever judge people anti Indian if they fight for the rights of poor, minorities and weaker sections of the society…
The above commentator never used the words Anti Indian. Where did you get those set of words?
Vaise dekha jaaye toh koi aur hai bhi nahin. Saw a tweet which says nine former Congress CMs lost. The Congress has five years to get its act together. For the sake of democracy remaining healthy and vibrant, it should. Spot talent and promote it.
Very true I guess. INC has been having a TINA factor for ages that continues to this day. Lucky for the ruling party.