The Congress continues to be in a state of turmoil with its chief Rahul Gandhi sticking to his offer to resign as party president even as hundreds of party workers sat on a hunger strike outside his Tuglak Lane residence here to convince him against quitting. The Congress has formed a committee to suggest names of leaders to replace Rahul and is also exploring the option of appointing a set of working presidents.
The party leaders are now digging up the precedents and have zeroed in on how the then Prime Minister and Congress chief Indira Gandhi had appointed a working president in Kamalapati Tripathi after the party’s rout in southern States.
The party leadership has also taken cognizance of the presence of working presidents in some of the State units, including Delhi, to repeat the example at the Central level.
The crisis in the Congress showed no signs of easing with Rahul sticking to his decision to resign as party chief after its Lok Sabha poll debacle and staying away from meeting party leaders. Since the Congress Working Committee last week authorised Rahul to restructure the party after the poll debacle, the proposal to create a post of Congress working president is doing the rounds.
While maintaining it is up to Rahul to take a final decision, a senior AICC leader recalled that Indira had appointed Kamalapati as working president after the Congress’ debacle in the south in 1983.
“Later then party chief Rajiv Gandhi made Arjun Singh Congress vice president amid Rajiv’s worsening ties with Tripathi. Rahul’s no rollback decision is also being seen in the context of the fact that his mother Sonia Gandhi had insisted on quitting when her leadership was questioned by Sharad Pawar and couple of others in 1999 leading to breakaway of the grand old party,” said the leader.
Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit also visited Rahul’s Tughlak Lane residence. Sources said she could not meet Rahul. Congress leader Jagdish Tytler said there are millions of Congress workers who do not want Rahul to resign.
Boxer Vijender Singh, who had fought the Lok Sabha polls from the South Delhi constituency and ended up at the third spot, said workers do not want Rahul to resign as he is an “able and hardworking” leader. Slogans of ‘Rahulji, we are with you’ and ‘Please do not resign’ rang through the air.
Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot said the party will analyse the reasons behind people electing the BJP in the Lok Sabha election just a few months after the Congress formed a Government in the State. The Congress in Maharashtra too has convened a meeting on Thursday to take stock of the reverses suffered by the party in the recently-held Lok Sabha polls.