Rahul Gandhi: I am no longer Congress president

Despite senior members making serious attempts to convince the 49-year-old to rethink his decision, Rahul Gandhi is firm on his decision

Rahul Gandhi: I am no longer Congress president

Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday stressed that he is no longer the president of the Congress, adding that the party should decide on a new chief without delay.

"The party should decide on the new president quickly without further delay, I am nowhere in this process. I have already submitted my resignation and I am no longer the party president. CWC should convene a meeting at the earliest and decide," Gandhi told reporters in the parliament.

Rahul Gandhi also took to social networking site Twitter to announce his official resignation.

It is an honour for me to serve the Congress Party, whose values and ideals have served as the lifeblood of our beautiful nation.

I owe the country and my organisation a debt of tremendous gratitude and love.

Jai Hind u00f0u009fu0087u00aeu00f0u009fu0087u00b3 pic.twitter.com/WWGYt5YG4V
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 3, 2019

The Wayanad lawmaker, who became the Congress president in 2017, 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 Lok Sabha Elections which were held this year.

However, the CWC unanimously rejected his resignation. So far, several top leaders have met Gandhi and urged him to continue to lead the party.

Despite senior members making serious attempts to convince the 49-year-old to rethink his decision, he has remained unfazed. A local party worker on Tuesday created a flutter outside the party headquarters on Akbar Road in Delhi when he tried to climb a tree to attempt suicide in order to stop Rahul Gandhi from resigning. He, however, was stopped by Congress leaders and workers present there.

The Congress won 52 seats in the recent general elections, which is just eight more than what the party won in 2014 polls.

Supporters sat on a strike outside party headquarters on Tuesday, urging Gandhi to rescind his resignation.

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Edited by mid-day online desk with inputs from Agencies

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