Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday, 3 July, officially resigned as the President of the Congress party, taking responsibility for the party’s loss in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Gandhi took to Twitter to state that he was honoured to have served as the Congress President and shared his resignation letter.
“I owe the country and my organisation a debt of tremendous gratitude and love,” he wrote on Twitter.
Here is his full resignation letter:
Earlier during the day, Gandhi was quoted by ANI as saying that the party should make a decision regarding appointing a new chief quickly.
“The party should decide on the new president quickly without further delay, I’m nowhere in this process. I have already submitted my resignation and I am no longer the party president. Congress Working Committee (CWC) should convene a meeting at the earliest and decide.”Rahul Gandhi, as quoted by ANI
Twitter Profile Description Changed
Soon after the announcement, Gandhi also changed his Twitter bio. His bio now reads ‘Member of the Indian National Congress’ and ‘Member of Parliament’, while earlier it introduced him as the President of the Congress Party.
Meanwhile, news agency ANI quoted sources having reported that, as per the Constitution of the Congress party, Motilal Vora, being the senior most General Secretary of the party, will take over as the interim President till the next meeting of the Congress Working Committee.
Reacting to the reports, Vora said, “We will once again request Rahul Gandhi to continue as the president of the party, whenever Congress Working Committee (CWC) holds a meeting.”
Initial Resignation on 25 May
Taking moral responsibility for the party’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha elections, Rahul resigned as Congress president at a CWC meeting on 25 May, two days after the results were declared.
However, the CWC rejected his resignation and authorised him to initiate changes in the party so as to revamp and restructure it at all levels.
Congress leaders at various levels had appealed to Gandhi to take back his resignation but he has been unrelenting.
Some party workers are sitting on a ‘dharna’ outside the Congress headquarters, asking him to continue as President. There have also been several resignations handed in by middle-rung leaders. Two days ago, the chief ministers of Congress-ruled states met Gandhi in an effort to convince him otherwise.
Senior Congress leader, Ahmed Patel on Wednesday also termed Gandhi's resignation letter as "unfortunate."
"We all are accountable for this defeat. He has, in a short span, already made tremendous contribution in strengthening the party and we all believe his endeavour should continue," Ahmed said during an interaction with ANI.
However, Gandhi has held on firmly to his decision to quit as the Congress president.
(With inputs from ANI)
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