In Rahul's 'honour', many Congmen resign

A month after the Lok Sabha debacle, the young versus the seniors' fight came out in the open with at least 140 leaders, who began to cut their political teeth in the Youth Congress, quitting their organisational posts as an expression of solidarity with Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

The deluge of resignations began after Vivek Tankha, the chairman of the AICC’s Legal, Human Rights and RTI department, announced his resignation from the party post with an appeal to party leaders to follow suit.

“We all should submit our resignations from party positions and give Rahul ji a free hand to choose his team. I welcome Kamal Nath ji’s statement to that effect,” Tankha, a Rajya Sabha member, said announcing his resignation late on Thursday night.

His resignation came after Rahul had expressed unhappiness over the party veterans’ failure to accept responsibility for the Lok Sabha debacle.

AICC general secretary Dipak Babaria, Goa Congress chief Girish Chodankar, Telangana Congress working president Ponnam Prabhakar, Delhi Congress working president Rajesh Lilothia, a number of AICC secretaries, Indian Youth Congress vice president B Srinivas were among the 140 odd leaders who signed the mass resignation papers circulated in the organisation.

“I would like to immediately resign from my post in respect and honour of Shri Rahul Gandhi ji,” read the one line resignation which was signed by a party leader.

Most of the signatories to the letter held the organisational post in various state Congress committees and frontal organisations of the party.

“The decision to tender mass resignation was taken on Friday at a meeting of leaders who earlier were in the Youth Congress and currently hold posts in the AICC and PCCs,” AICC secretary Anil Chaudhary, who has also quit the post, told DH.

On Thursday night, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath had said that he had offered to quit as the state Congress president immediately after the Lok Sabha results were declared accepting responsibility for the party’s performance in the state.

Rahul had offered to quit as Congress president at the Congress Working Committee meeting on May 25 accepting responsibility for the party’s dismal performance in the Lok Sabha elections.

The resignation was rejected by the CWC which gave him a free hand to restructure the organisation.