After giving up his post as the Congress party president last year, Rahul Gandhi on Friday, 8 May, ruled out the possibility of returning as the party’s president again.
“I stand by my letter, he said to NDTV's question on the possibility of his comeback as Congress boss, given his noticeably stronger interest in party affairs during the COVID-19 lockdown.
The 49-year-old Congress MP was responding to the question during a digital press conference, his second since the country went into lockdown to slow the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus.
A few days ago, Gandhi led a series of video chats with eminent personalities like Raghuram Rajan and Abhineet Banerjee on Twitter which sparked speculations that the party might be working towards re-branding Gandhi and bring him back to the top post.
On being asked if it was a closed chapter that could be re-opened, Gandhi said, “My position is clear, as I stated in my letter, which was to step down and serve the party and give input and advice.”
In his resignation letter in July, weeks after the Lok Sabha election results, Gandhi had said, “As president of the Congress party, I am responsible for the loss of the 2019 election… I am available to the party whenever they require my services, input or advice.”
He had said, “Accountability is critical for the future growth of our party. It is for this reason that I have resigned as Congress President.”
Gandhi has been quite active on making conversations around coronavirus and the lockdown. On Friday too, he said that the nationwide lockdown to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus is not like an ‘On’ and ‘Off’ switch, adding if the government wants to end the lockdown, it needs to bring a psychological change in the mind of the people.
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