Rahul Gandhi officially resigns as Congress president, says 'accountability is critical' for growth of party

Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday officially resigned as Congress president and tweeted his resignation letter. “Accountability is critical for the future growth of our party. It is for this reason that I have resigned as Congress President,” Rahul said in his resignation letter.

It is an honour for me to serve the Congress Party, whose values and ideals have served as the lifeblood of our beautiful nation.

I owe the country and my organisation a debt of tremendous gratitude and love.

Jai Hind 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/WWGYt5YG4V

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 3, 2019

“Many of my colleagues suggested that I nominate the next Congress president. While it is important for someone new to lead our party, it would not be correct for me to select that person,” he said. “Rahul is honest and transparent. There’s no drama in this and moreover, why should he do it? If he wants to remain as president, who can ask him to step down? In fact, everyone wants him to remain in and lead Congress,” a source in Congress told Firstpost. [caption id=“attachment_6439551” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Rahul Gandhi. PTI[/caption] A senior Congress leader and former MP further told Firstpost, “As per convention and INC constitution, senior most general secretary should take charge as new president in-charge, until CWC appoints an interim president. Next step is election for the president’s post”. Rahul earlier told reporters that he’d resigned and the Congress Working Committee should make the appointment soon. “I am no longer the Congress president. I have already resigned. The CWC should convene a meeting immediately and decide on the new Congress president,” he said when asked about the future course of the party. Taking moral responsibility for the party’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha elections, Rahul resigned as Congress president at a CWC meeting on 25 May, two days after the results were declared. The party won 52 seats in the Lok Sabha election. The CWC had rejected his resignation and authorised him to initiate changes in the party in order to revamp and restructure it at all levels. Congress leaders at various levels had been appealing to Rahul to take back his resignation but he had not been willing to relent. Click here to follow LIVE updates on Rahul Gandhi's resignation. With inputs from PTI and Debobrat Ghose