After Rahul adamant on decision to step down, A Flurry Of Resignations in 130 years old party
NEW DELHI :In a significant political development on Thursday evening, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and State Congress Committee chief Kamal Nath said that he had offered his resignation as state party chief, taking responsibility for party’s defeat in the Lok Sabha polls in the state.
When questioned by journalists about Congress national president Rahul Gandhi’s Wednesday’s statements while meeting Youth Congress leaders, Nath said, “I don’t know about other leaders (other state party unit heads), but I had already offered to resign, taking responsibility of party’s defeat in the state.”
Several office-bearers of the Congress, including its general secretary in charge of Madhya Pradesh Dipak Babaria and Goa unit chief Girish Chodankar, resigned on Friday, after MP Vivek Tankha quit as the chairman of the party’s legal and human rights cell and urged others to follow suit to give a free hand to Rahul Gandhi to restructure the party at all levels.
Both Babaria and Chodankar took the responsibility for the Lok Sabha poll debacle of the party in their respective states.Delhi PCC’s working president Rajesh Lilothia and Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee working president Ponnam Prabhakar also quit, as also a number of other office-bearers in various states.
A common letter of resignation was being circulated on social media with the names and signatures of certain Congressmen, including those of Haryana Mahila Congress chief Sumitra Chauhan and All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretaries Rajesh Dharmani and Virender Rathore. However, there was no official word from the party about the letter.
“The firm decision of Rahul Gandhi Ji to not withdraw his resignation as Congress President, morally does not permit me to continue. The defeat is our collective responsibility, hence I hereby tender my resignation forthwith as Goa Congress President,” Chodankar said in a tweet.
In his resignation letter addressed to party chief Gandhi, Babaria wrote, “In the wake of the Lok Sabha poll results, you submitted your resignation owing total responsibility.
“I believe that it is not only your responsibility but a collective responsibility of all the leaders who were in the front and who were responsible for leading the party in their respective states. Therefore, I have decided to resign as General Secretary – AICC and in-charge of MP.
His remarks come in the backdrop of reports that Gandhi has expressed disappointment that none of the party leaders, holding top posts, took the responsibility for the party’s poll rout after he himself offered to resign last month.
Ever since his offer to resign at a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, Gandhi has maintained that he will not go back on his decision as it was taken to ensure accountability for the party’s poor poll show.
At the AICC briefing, replying to a question, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said the CWC had asked Gandhi to continue as the party chief and rejected his resignation.
“The general opinion within the party is that Rahul Gandhi should continue as the Congress president and various leaders have expressed their views at different fora. But the basic issue is that he should remain on the post,” he said.
Tankha resigned as the chairman of the party’s legal and human rights cell on Thursday and urged others to follow suit.”We all should submit our resignations from party positions and give Rahul-ji a free hand to choose his team.
Key leaders of the Congress have stepped down following the example of Vivek Tankha, the Rajya Sabha member who quit the party post to give Rahul Gandhi “a free hand”. Two working presidents of the party in Delhi and Telangana and 120 other office bearers across the country have put in their papers. Many of them said they would not withdraw their resignation until Rahul Gandhi promised to stay on as the Congress chief.
Last evening, Mr Tankha resigned as the chairman of the party’s legal and human rights cell and asked others to follow his example.
“We all should submit our resignations from party positions and give Rahul-ji a free hand to choose his team. I welcome Mr Kamal Nath”s statement to that effect. I unequivocally submit my resignation as AICC Dept chairman Law, RTI and HR. Party cannot afford a stalemate for too long,” he said on Twitter.
“Rahul-ji please make drastic changes to revive the party as a fighting force. You have the commitment and determination. Just cobble a good, acceptable and influential nation-wide team. I am with you in all situations,” Mr Tankha said.
Taking responsibility for the defeat, Working President of Delhi Congress Committee Rajesh Lilothia and Working President of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee Poonam Prabhakar resigned from their respective posts.
Taking cue from states like Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, Delhi Congress Chief and former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has dissolved all 280 block Congress committees with immediate effect in wake of the party’s debacle in the recently held Lok Sabha election. According to reports, the Congress Working Committee will meet next week to decide on the post of party president as Rahul Gandhi is adamant on resigning as Congress chief.
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