Cong office-bearers resign en-masse following Rahul Gandhi's resignation

Several Congress office-bearers on Friday resigned en-masse to take collective responsibility for the party's poor performance in the 17th Lok Sabha polls. The resignations have been tendered in the wake of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi taking singular responsibility for the poll debacle.

New Delhi: With Rahul Gandhi adamant on resigning from the post of the Congress party president and taking responsibility for the party's poor performance in the 17th Lok Sabha elections, several Congress office-bearers on Friday resigned en-masse to take collective responsibility for the poll debacle.

The resignations came after MP Vivek Tankha quit as the chairman of the party's legal and human rights cell and urged others to follow suit to give a free hand to Rahul Gandhi to restructure the party at all levels.

One of the party leaders to have resigned included Virendra Singh Rathore, who said that it is unfair to hold Rahul Gandhi responsible for the party not winning enough seats in the election and stressed on holding every party leader accountable for the same.

"We feel that it's unfair to put the blame on Rahul Gandhi and demand his resignation. Every party worker will have to take collective responsibility," said Rathore

He further described Rahul Gandhi as a "unifying force" in the Congress party and said, "only he (Rahul Gandhi) has the capacity to keep the party together. We request him not to resign and remain the party president.

Reacting to the resignations, Pawan Khera said, "everyone has their own way of expressing their feelings."

A common letter of resignation was being circulated on social media with the names and signatures of certain Congressmen, including those of Haryana Mahila Congress chief Sumitra Chauhan and All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretaries Rajesh Dharmani and Virender Rathore. However, there was no official word from the party about the letter.