End of the line? Rahul Gandhi Resigns As Party President

Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday the 4^thof July resigned as the President of the Indian National Congress. In his sharply worded four-page letter that he posted on Twitter, he cited the historic failure of the INC in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. He held himself accountable as the party president in failing to lead the party to a win.

In the recently held elections, the BJP came to power by winning a majority 303 seats whilst the Indian National Congress was only able to secure a measly 52 seats that did not even bring them up to the 10% required to lead the opposition. Mr Rahul Gandhi who competed from the constituencies of Amethi had added to his roster for this year the constituency of Wayanad. He lost his seat in the district of Amethi however he won his seat from Wayanad. 

Immediately after the results were tallied, the president offered to quit despite strong pleading from Congress party members and workers. In the four-page letter that Rahul Gandhi posted in regards to his resignation, he urged the Congress Working Committee to work quickly to find a new president to lead the party. Rahul Gandhi who was also asked to nominate a new presidential candidate for the party has declined and backed out of the process. Mr Gandhi did not just offer his resignation in the letter but he went much further to state that Mr Modi’s party is “crushing the voice of Indian people”. Rahul Gandhi in his letter has presented a dark picture of India’s future under Mr Modi’s party and has very articulately tried to convey that he resists and deplores the conditions that the Republic of India has had to endure under the BJP rule.

The unwillingness of Rahul Gandhi to continue as the party president seems to have induced a frenzy among top Congress leaders as the party is going through a leadership crisis. The party will need to appoint an interim president before the CWC convenes to pass a resolution on the issue. Senior party leader Motilal Vora’s name is doing the rounds in consideration for this post but Mr Vora has denied any knowledge of any such activity. Several party leaders have expressed displeasure at Rahul’s resignation but he has countered their grievances by conveying that the element of accountability was necessary and he must not cling on to power and own up to his responsibilities. Later this year, assembly elections are slated to take place in Haryana, Jharkhand and Maharashtra and the Congress party’s leadership crisis could hurt their poll preparations.