New Delhi: With Congress president Rahul Gandhi determined to stick to his decision to step down from his post following the party’s huge defeat in the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls, uncertainty continued in the party on Wednesday. The stalemate continued even as party workers sat on a hungerstrike outside Mr Gandhi’s Tughlaq Lane residence here to persuade him not to resign.
On Tuesday, Mr Gandhi had only met his mother, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, AICC general secretary, besides senior leader K.C Venugopal and Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala. Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot went to meet Mr Gandhi at Tughlaq Lane on Tuesday, but they could only meet Priyanka Vadra there. Senior Congress leaders have been urging Mr Gandhi to take back his resignation and revamp the party at all levels in these challenging times.
The crisis in the Congress showed no signs of abating with Mr Gandhi firm on stepping down as Congress president and staying away from meeting party leaders. Delhi Congress leader Vijay Jatan and some party workers who had sat on a hungerstrike outside Mr Gandhi’s residence said their demand was that he should take back his resignation as the party needed his leadership even more at this juncture.
