Congress in bind as Rahul insists on quitting

Congress president Rahul Gandhi after paying tributes to India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru on his 55th death anniversary at Shanti Van in New Delhi on Monday. PTI

The Congress was in a bind on Monday as a deeply upset Rahul Gandhi refused to meet party leaders even as a spate of resignations from various states landed at his desk in the aftermath of the party's disastrous performance in the Lok Sabha elections.

Rahul met senior leaders Ahmed Patel and AICC general secretary in-charge of organisation K C Venugopal on Monday but refused to meet Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who has been accused by the party leader of focusing too much on his son Vaibhav's campaign at the cost of party candidates.

READ: Sanctity of CWC meet should be respected: Cong

Congress sources admitted that Rahul was still insisting on relinquishing the top post and reportedly asked party leaders to find his successor.

Three more state Congress presidents — Sunil Jakhar (Punjab), Ripun Bora (Assam) and Ajoy Kumar (Jharkhand) — sent in their resignations to Rahul accepting responsibility for the party's poor performance in their respective states.

Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar, Odisha unit chief Niranjan Patnaik and Maharashtra unit chief Ashok Chavan had sent in their resignations.

At the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Saturday, Rahul had expressed anguish over the party's failure to work as a cohesive unit and pointed out how senior leaders insisted on fielding their kin in the Lok Sabha polls.

As speculation over Rahul's continuance in the top post refused to die down, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala issued a statement saying the CWC had held “collective deliberation” on the performance of the party in the Lok Sabha polls “instead of casting aspersions on the role or conduct of any specific individual.”

The statement noted that the CWC had authorised the Congress president to carry out “radical changes” and a “complete organisational overhaul” and urged everyone to “await the calibrated efforts of the Congress party towards future course of action”.

Meanwhile, over the weekend, several senior Congress leaders met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi who advised them not to get demoralised and continue to work for the party.