“Few have the courage that you do Rahul Gandhi Says Priyanka
NEW DELHI : Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday backed her brother Rahul Gandhi for his insistence on quitting as Congress president, stating that only a few have such courage.
Taking to Twitter, Priyanka posted Rahul’s Gandhi’s letter in which the 49-year-old politician says that he has resigned from the post of Congress president, taking the responsibility of Congress’ drubbing in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. “Few have the courage that you do Rahul Gandhi. Deepest respect for your decision,” Priyanka tweeted.
Rahul Gandhi, 49, posted a long letter on Wednesday making public a decision he had conveyed to Congress leaders last month and asserting that he had resigned as “accountability is critical” for the future growth of the Congress.
“Few have the courage that you do @rahulgandhi. Deepest respect for your decision,” wrote Priyanka Gandhi, who is two years younger to her brother and a Congress leader. In his letter, Rahul Gandhi had said: “It is a habit in India that the powerful cling to power, no one sacrifices power. But we will not defeat our opponents without sacrificing the desire for power and fighting a deeper ideological battle.”
Calling for “radical transformation” in the Congress, he added: “Rebuilding the party requires hard decisions and numerous people will have to be made accountable for the failure of 2019. It would be unjust to hold others accountable but ignore my own responsibility as president of the party.”
His words indicated he was determined to relinquish his family’s hold on the Congress, which has been mostly headed by generations of leaders from the Nehru-Gandhi family in its 133-year-old history. “Most of my colleagues suggested that I nominate the next Congress president. While it is important for someone new to lead the party, it would not be correct for me to select that person,” wrote Rahul Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi, who took over the top post from his mother Sonia Gandhi in 2017, had first told party leaders about his decision to quit at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee on May 25, just days after the second straight election rout for the party compared to a spectacular haul for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP.
Priyanka as well as Sonia Gandhi had supported him; Priyanka Gandhi, who joined politics in January as Congress general secretary, had even questioned how strongly other leaders had supported her brother’s campaign.
Gandhi, Member of Lok Sabha from Wayanad in Kerala, became the Congress president in 2017. He offered to step down from his post at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on May 25, taking moral responsibility for the Congress’ abysmal performance in the 17th Lok Sabha Elections
The Congress chief’s defeat in his traditional constituency of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, which reduced the party to just one in the 80-seat state, also cut deep. Rahul Gandhi made it to parliament only because of his win in the second constituency he contested this time, Kerala’s Wayanad. Priyanka Gandhi had campaigned in Amethi while her brother focused on rallies in other parts of the country.
Gandhi, Member of Lok Sabha from Wayanad in Kerala, became the Congress president in 2017. He offered to step down from his post at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on May 25, taking moral responsibility for the Congress’ abysmal performance in the 17th Lok Sabha Elections.
There was wild speculation that after Rahul’s resignation, senior leader Motilal Vora would be the interim president of the party as per its constitution.Earlier today, Vora had rejected the reports of him being appointed the interim Congress president after Rahul resigned from the top post. “I have no information regarding me being made the interim president of the party,” Vora had told ANI here.
Rajasthan Chief Minister and another Congress veteran, Ashok Gehlot also took to Twitter to say that the party is “very hopeful” that soon Rahul will return “to lead the party forward, to a new and robust future.”(Pti file photo)
