MPs makes last-ditch bid to convince Rahul Gandhi to stay

New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday told his party MPs from the Lok Sabha that he was firm in his decision to quit and the party should call a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to select a new chief.

In the first meeting of the Congress members of the Lower House after the general elections, which was called to discuss floor co-ordination in the Lok Sabha, all 52 Congress MPs urged Mr Gandhi to reconsider his decision of quitting which he had announced at the last CWC meeting on May 25.

The issue was first raised by Congress MP from Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu S Thirunavukkarasar who requested Mr Gandhi to reconsider his decision.

Following this, senior Congress MPs Manish Tewari and Shashi Tharoor said that the party was ready to take joint responsibility for the disastrous performance in the Lok Sabha polls.

Sources said that almost all party MPs present urged him to continue and even offered to submit a resolution signed by all of them to this effect.

However, the Wayanad MP remained adamant. He is understood to have told the party MPs that there has to be some accountablity and he was ready to take responsbility for the party’s defeat. Mr Gandhi told the MPs that he had decided to quit if the results were not satisfcatory even before the polls.

He is also understood to have told the MPs that he did not believe that reports on what went wrong for the party could help and asked them to begin the process of selecting a new leader by calling a meeting of the Congress Working Committee.