Other leaders from team RaGa also put in papers
In a clear indication of a major revamp in the Congress, Rahul Gandhi’s close aide Milind Deora resigned as president of the Mumbai Congress Committee on Sunday and said he looked forward to play a role at the national level to help stabilise the party following the Lok Sabha debacle.
Congress general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia had resigned from his post last week itself over the party’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls and made it public on Sunday through a tweet.
On Saturday, Keshav Chand Yadav resigned as Indian Youth Congress chief, while AICC Scheduled Caste Cell chairman Nitin Raut had quit earlier. Other Rahul aides who resigned in solidarity with their leader include former Congress chief’s protégés such as Uttam Reddy, who quit as working president of Telangana Congress, and Girish Chodankar, who gave up the position of Goa Congress president.
Most of the resignations Congress witnessing are from the members of team Rahul, be it AICC secretaries or a range of state chiefs he positioned in different regions. Among them is Rajesh Lilothia, who was only recently appointed Delhi Congress Working president under State unit chief Sheila Dikshit.
In his resignation letter, Deora recommended setting up of a provisional collective leadership comprising three senior Congress leaders to oversee the party’s city unit till the Maharashtra assembly polls, which are due later this year. Deora was appointed president of the Mumbai Congress before the Lok Sabha polls.
Taking on the BJP-Shiv Sena and negating the impact of the ‘Vanchit Aghadi’ is a challenge for the Congress in Maharashtra, a statement issued by Deora’s office on Sunday said.
Deora had expressed his desire to quit after meeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on June 26.
“The same has been conveyed to All India Congress Committee general secretaries Mallikarjun Kharge and K C Venugopal,” the statement said.
“I had accepted MRCC presidentship in the interest of uniting the party. I felt I should also resign after meeting Rahul Gandhi,” he said.
Gandhi recently quit from the post of Congress president, and the Congress Working Committee, the highest decision making body of the party, is yet to decide on his successor.
“I have suggested a three-member panel (to oversee the city party unit) and I am being consulted by leaders to identify names. I look forward to play a national role to help stabilise the party. Needless to say, I will continue to guide and unite the Mumbai Congress,” Deora said.
Deora contested the Lok Sabha poll from Mumbai-South constituency, but lost to Shiv Sena’s Arvind Sawant.
Announcing his resignation following party’s rout in lok sabha polls, Scindia said,” “Accepting the people’s verdict and taking accountability, I had submitted my resignation as General Secretary of AICC to Shri @RahulGandhi.
“I thank him for entrusting me with this responsibility and for giving me the opportunity to serve our party,” Scindia tweeted.
The tweet came hours after Milind Deora quit his post. However, Scindia had submitted his resignation to Rahul last week itself.