Cong Clears the Air on Rahul Gandhi: ‘He Will Remain Party Chief’

Rahul Gandhi had offered to quit as party chief during a meeting of the Congress Working Committee on 25 May.

Rahul Gandhi was, is, and will remain the Congress president, party's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on Wednesday, 12 June, after days of uncertainty over Gandhi's offer to quit the post.

Surjewala made the remarks after senior Congress leaders met in New Delhi informally, under the guidance of AK Antony, and discussed the party's strategy and preparation for the upcoming Assembly elections in Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand and Maharashtra.

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT RAHUL GANDHI’S RESIGNATION

• Gandhi had offered to quit as party chief during a meeting of the Congress Working Committee on 25 May which was called to analyse the party's poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls, in which it managed to win just 52 seats.
• The CWC had unanimously rejected his offer to quit but Gandhi was apparently firm on his stand.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE CORE COMMITTEE MEETING ON 12 JUNE

• Senior leaders Ahmed Patel, Mallikarjuna Kharge, Ghulam Nabi Azad, P Chidambaram, KC Venugopal, Surjewala, Jairam Ramesh and Anand Sharma were present in the meeting.
• All the leaders present in Wednesday's meeting were members of the core group formed for the Lok Sabha polls.
• Surjewala clarified that contrary to speculation in the media there was no core group now as all election-related committees ceased to exist.
• Surjewala added that party general secretary KC Venugopal will soon call a meeting of its state in-charges.

(Edited for clarity)