Priyanka Gandhi, Ashok Gehlot reach Rahul’s residence amid growing talk of him stepping down

The Indian Express earlier reported that Gandhi is said to have told Congress he will continue as party chief until a suitable successor is found. In what is being seen as an attempt to persuade Gandhi to change his mind, many state Congress presidents either resigned or offered to quit to allow him to undertake a restructuring of the party.

While Jharkhand PCC chief Ajoy Kumar resigned, Punjab’s Sunil Jakhar, Assam’s Ripun Bora and Maharashtra’s Ashok Chavan offered to step down. On Monday, AICC treasurer Ahmed Patel and party general secretary in charge of organisation K C Venugopal met Gandhi and the impression these leaders got was that he is in no mood to relent. In fact, sources said he has asked them to look for his successor. Gandhi, sources said, was open to taking over as the leader of the Congress in Parliament and then focus exclusively on rebuilding the party.

Last week, Gandhi’s decision to step down was rejected by the Congress Working Committee and passed a resolution praising him for his efforts.

The rumblings in the Congress in Rajasthan and the tension in the JD(S)-Congress government in Karnataka too are worrying the party. With two ministers of the Ashok Gehlot government taking potshots at the Chief Minister, the Congress also swung into damage-control mode. The ministers were emboldened after Gandhi accused Gehlot and two other senior leaders of having put the interests of their sons above that of the party during the Lok Sabha elections.

Congress communication department head Randeep Surjewala issued a statement asking the media to respect the sanctity of a closed-door meeting of the CWC. It was, however, silent on Gandhi’s specific comments about Gehlot and others and merely said “CWC held a collective deliberation on the performance of the party, the challenges before it as also the way ahead, instead of casting aspersions on the role or conduct of any specific individual.”