At the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meet held on Saturday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi insisted on resigning over the Congress’s national election debacle but the party rejected Gandhi’s offer to resign from the post of party chief.
Addressing the media after the CWC meet, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, “Party president Rahul Gandhi offered his resignation but it was rejected by the members of CWC unanimously.”
Randeep Surjewala, Congress: Party President Rahul Gandhi offered his resignation but it was rejected by the members of CWC unanimously. pic.twitter.com/aXLjPa72aj
— ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2019
The CWC has requested Gandhi to retain his role and ‘completely overhaul and restructure’ the grand old party after the dismal show in the Lok Sabha elections 2019.
“We need Rahul Gandhi to guide us in these challenging times,” Surjewala said.
Randeep Surjewala, Congress: CWC has given Congress President the right to makes changes to restructure the party, a plan for this will be brought soon. pic.twitter.com/FLrjppRofG
— ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2019
The Congress president, who had fronted the opposition campaign against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, did not speak to the media after the three-hour-long meeting. The 48-year-old leader has owned responsibility for the crushing defeat.
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The grand old party won just about 52 seats in the 17th Lok Sabha elections, a shade better than its worst performance ever, in the 2014 elections, when it ended up with 44 seats.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP won a spectacular mandate of 303 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha.
Earlier on Thursday, after the poll verdict came, Gandhi had made it clear at an unusually brief news conference that the party was determined to fight back.