Congress turns down state unit chief Somen Mitra's resignation

Kolkata: The Congress has turned down the resignation submitted by party president of West Bengal unit, Somen Mitra.

West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee in a press release said, “After getting information on Somen Mitra’s resignation, Gaurav Gogoi, the in-charge of the PCC called on the PCC president yesterday in Delhi. He said that the resignation of the PCC president has not been accepted by the AICC. He also advised to start working as PCC president with renewed efforts.”

“Congress Working Committee will take a decision soon on a permanent solution over Congress president. Then the party will decide about the committees in the states,” the letter undersigned by West Bengal Pradesh Congress communication chief Amitabha Chakraborti said.

The letter also explained that on May 24, the day after the announcement of the Lok Sabha election results, Mr Mitra, taking moral responsibility of the party’s defeat, tendered his resignation from the post. But after a request from colleagues, he had agreed to continue with his duty.

However, Mr Mitra tendered his resignation again when Rahul Gandhi remained firm on his decision to step down from the post of the Congress president taking moral responsibility of the party’s abysmal performance in the general elections.

The letter further reads, “So, there is no question of accepting the resignation of Somen Mitra. He also advised designing a road map to reach out to the people of the state in the DCC president’s meeting, which will be held on July 19 and will be attended by representatives of the AICC.”

The Congress won two of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, four down from the 2014 election.

Since the last few days, several leaders of the Congress have tendered their resignations taking moral responsibility for the party’s humiliating defeat in the 17th Lok Sabha elections.

Mr Gandhi, who became the Congress president in 2017, publically announced his resignation in a four-page letter posted on Twitter last week.

Earlier, he offered to step down from his post at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on May 25. However, at first, it was rejected by the CWC.