Rahul Gandhi's Offer To Resign Unanimously Rejected By CWC, Asked To Lead In 'Challenging Times'

Congress president Rahul Gandhi offered to resign on Saturday but his resignation was "unanimously rejected" by the Congress Working Committee (CWC), said party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.

"We need Rahul Gandhi to guide us in these challenging times," Surjewala told reporters after a three-hour long meeting of the CWC.

Surjewala said the CWC accepts the failures which led to the poll debacle and has authorised the Congress president to restructure the party at the earliest.

Senior Congress leader AK Antony said the party's performance wasn't "disastrous" but they could not rise to the expectations.

On being asked if there was a discussion on whether Rahul Gandhi's sister and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should take over, the Congress leaders said such reports are "misleading and incorrect."

The CWC meeting, chaired by Rahul Gandhi, was attended by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Uttar Pradesh (East) in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and chief ministers of four party-ruled states -- Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh -- and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

Senior leader and former Union minister P Chidambaram was also present in the meeting alongside his party colleagues including Antony, Ahmed Patel, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sheila Dikshit, Mallikarjun kharge, Ambika Soni, Anand Sharma and Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Punjab CM Amarinder Singh and Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot also attended the meeting along with their Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel.

The party suffered a loss for the second time in a row at the hands of the Narendra Modi-led BJP.

The Congress which won only 44 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the lowest-score in its history, could only add eight more seats to its national tally in 2019 election.

(With inputs from agencies)