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Talk of churning in Congress: Rahul Gandhi may resign after poll debacle – will it happen?

Published

7 years ago

May 24, 2019

Congress president Rahul Gandhi may offer his resignation tomorrow (Saturday, May 25) at a meeting of Congress Working Committee to deliberate on the second successive debacle in Lok Sabha polls.

According to reports in a section of media, murmurs have already started within the party over taking responsibility for the poor performance of the Congress across the country, with some of its leaders already sending in their resignations.

The Congress won only 52 seats this time, drawing a blank in as many as 19 states. Once again, the Congress would fail to get the post of Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha for its leader as in 2014 when it had got only 44 seats.

The party has reportedly convened a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, its highest decision making body, at 11 AM on Saturday and Rahul Gandhi is likely to offer his resignation at the meet, party sources said, reported The Indian Express (IE).

Also Read: Smriti Irani busts Gandhi bastion, myth of invincibility

Top party leaders, including UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, are expected to attend the meeting.

On Thursday, Gandhi said he took “100 per cent responsibility” for the defeat. Asked whether he would quit, he said: “Let that be between the Working Committee and me.”

In 2014, too, then Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi – who led the campaign as party vice president – had both offered to quit after the party plunged to a historic low of 44 seats. The Congress, which has always been devoted to the Nehru-Gandhi family, rejected the offer.

Murmurs against the leadership are louder this time, say reports. “If they want to change anything, change the leadership,” news agency Reuters quoted an unnamed Congress leader from Rajasthan as saying.

There have already been voices within to introspect on why the party failed to reach out to the people.

Resignation of state leaders

Meanwhile, there have been some resignation from state chiefs. Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar and Odisha Congress president Niranjan Patnaik announced their resignations from the post owning responsibility for the party’s defeat in their respective states.

Also Read: Narendra Modi sweeps back to power, Opposition fails to put up a fight in most states

In UP, it managed to win only the Rae Bareli constituency of Sonia Gandhi out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Rahul Gandhi himself lost from his family bastion Amethi to senior BJP leader Smriti Irani.

Babbar, who contested from Fatehpur Sikri, was defeated by a margin of 4,95,065 votes by BJP’s Rajkumar Chahar.

“The results are depressing for the Uttar Pradesh Congress. I find myself guilty of not discharging my responsibility in a proper manner,” Babbar tweeted in Hindi. “I will meet the leadership and apprise it of my views. Congratulations to the winners for winning the confidence of the people,” he said.

Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik said: “I have sent my resignation to AICC President (Rahul Gandhi) owning moral responsibility for the party’s poor show in both Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the state. While the Congress faced defeat in the state, I too lost at the hustings,” he said.

Patnaik said “the party needs to take concrete steps to set the organisation in proper shape by getting rid of opportunists and attracting youths into its fold.” He said that he had tried his best to bolster the party’s poll prospects.

Patnaik said a committee, headed by senior leader Narasingha Mishra, has been set up to ascertain the reasons behind the drubbing suffered by the Congress in Odisha.

Congress won only one Lok Sabha seat and nine assembly seats in the eastern state.

Also Read: Assembly Election Result 2019

There are also reports that HK Patil, who was tasked to oversee the Karnataka Congress campaign in December, has quit taking moral responsibility.

The enormity of defeat

The Congress drew a blank in as many as 19 states and UTs, including Odisha, Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and picked up one or two seats in the other states barring Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Punjab.

If the party’s 15 seats in Kerala and eight each in Tamil Nadu and Punjab are to be discounted, then the tally would have dipped to 20. The Congress, one of its leaders said, has become a South India party, Punjab being the only exception where Chief Minister Amarinder Singh held out.

The drubbing was so severe that of the three Hindi heartland states where it returned to power in the assembly elections last winter, the Congress drew a blank in Rajasthan, won only one seat in Madhya Pradesh and managed just two seats in Chhattisgarh.

The good showing in Tamil Nadu too came largely with help from the DMK. It could win only one or two seats in state after state, among them Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Bihar, Goa, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.

Many of the Congress big guns lost — Mallikarjun Kharge and M Veerappa Moily in Karnataka, Digvijaya Singh in Madhya Pradesh, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Kumari Selja in Haryana, Ashok Chavan and Sushil Kumar Shinde in Maharashtra, Meira Kumar in Bihar, Pawan Kumar Bansal in Chandigarh, Sheila Dikshit and Ajay Maken in Delhi, Salman Khurshid, Raj Babbar and Sri Prakash Jaiswal in Uttar Pradesh.

Many of its younger faces, including the baba log around Gandhi in Lok Sabha, too fell by the wayside — Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sushmita Dev, Deepender Hooda, Milind Deora, RPN Singh and Jitin Prasada.

Murmurs for fixing accountability

The debacles have got some of the leaders calling for fixing of accountability. At least two leaders said they plan to write to the Congress president, demanding an urgent meeting of the CWC to “discuss what went wrong and the way ahead”, reported IE.

Reacting to the results, senior Congress leader Janardan Dwivedi said to The Indian Express, “I am not surprised,” while another senior leader Anand Sharma said “we lost the narrative and there are many things for that matter which should have been seriously reflected upon on which I don’t want to comment now.”

Also Read: Lok Sabha Election Result 2019

One leader, reported IE, said many seniors had “serious reservations on certain things which were put in the manifesto like dilution of AFSPA and all… in an election fought on hyper-nationalism, Pulwama, Balakot… you are saying that you will remove AFSPA and redeploy the Army… repeal the sedition law. And then you question Balakot and the Indian Air Force. It went down very badly with the people.”

“We failed to reached out to the youth… you can’t give them 6000 rupees… there was total disconnect,” another senior leader said. “People wanted to hear what is your message, vision… they did not want to hear nonsense… none of the senior leaders, from the very beginning, were in favour of usages like chowkidar chor hai, Gabbar Singh Tax and all… these are not Congress phraseology. What will happen if you rely on former JNU activists,” one senior leader said.

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Kharge, Rahul Gandhi skip Independence Day event for 2nd straight year

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi skipped the 80th Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort for the second consecutive year.

Published

18 hours ago

August 15, 2026

APNLive Desk

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi skipped the 80th Independence Day celebrations at Delhi’s Red Fort for the second consecutive year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the Independence Day celebrations at the historic venue on Saturday.

The absence of the two senior Congress leaders comes amid strained relations between the ruling party and the Opposition, which further deteriorated during the Monsoon Session of Parliament that concluded on Thursday.

2024 seating controversy

Rahul Gandhi had attended the Independence Day celebrations in 2024 but his seating arrangement triggered a controversy. The Congress leader, who holds the status of a Cabinet minister as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, was seated in the second-last row during the ceremony at the Red Fort.

The Opposition had criticised the seating arrangement, calling it an insult to the people. The Defence Ministry, which organised the event, said the arrangement had been modified to accommodate Olympians at the venue.

According to protocol, the Leader of the Opposition is seated in the front row during ceremonial events.

Opposition-ruling party tensions

Relations between the government and the Opposition remained tense during the Monsoon Session, which ended on Thursday.

The session saw repeated clashes between the two sides, with both the Opposition and the ruling party blaming each other for the low productivity of Parliament.

The session began on July 20, with students marching towards Parliament on the first day. Twelve bills were passed during the session, while detailed discussion took place on only one legislation, concerning paper leaks.

The Congress, along with the Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party, also boycotted the customary tea party hosted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla after the House was adjourned sine die.

India News

Assam BJP leader Bikash Dhar found dead, 5 arrested for murder

BJP leader Bikash Dhar, 52, was found dead in an abandoned house in Assam’s Sribhumi district after being reported missing on August 12. Police have arrested five people in connection with the alleged murder.

Published

1 day ago

August 14, 2026

APNLive Desk

A 52-year-old BJP leader who had been missing for two days was found dead in Assam’s Sribhumi district on Friday, with police alleging that he was murdered.

Bikash Dhar, a resident of Chagalmowa village under Bazaricherra police station, was found dead inside an abandoned house in the Yogicherra area near the Tripura border on Friday morning.

Dhar’s family had filed a missing complaint on August 12 after he left home following a phone call.

According to his son Madan Dhar, Bikash left around 1 pm after saying that he had to attend an emergency meeting. When he did not return and his phone was switched off, the family began searching for him and later approached the police.

Five arrested in murder case

Sribhumi Superintendent of Police Leena Doley said an investigation was launched after the missing complaint was received. The probe was conducted under the supervision of the Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime).

Police said five people have been arrested in connection with the alleged murder. They were identified as Abdul Salam, Sifat Ali, Abdul Ahad, Saiful Ali and Badrul Haque.

According to the police, interrogation of Abdul Salam revealed that the accused had an enmity with Dhar. Police alleged that the group killed him and dumped his body near a water body.

Another person, identified as Sunam Miya, was named during the investigation and reportedly fled to Tripura on the night of the incident.

Police find injury and cut marks on body

Police said injury and cut marks were found on Dhar’s body, and a murder case has been registered.

During the recovery of the alleged weapon, police said accused Badrul Haque attempted to escape from custody. A police constable was injured during the incident.

Police said they fired at Haque’s leg to prevent him from escaping, resulting in a bullet wound.

The investigation into the circumstances surrounding Dhar’s death and the alleged involvement of the accused is underway.

India News

Karnataka Cabinet clears public property bill amid RSS registration row

Karnataka Cabinet approves a Bill to regulate the use of government premises and public property amid a political row over RSS registration.

Published

2 days ago

August 14, 2026

APNLive Desk

The Karnataka Cabinet has approved a proposed law to regulate the use of government premises and public property in the state, amid an ongoing political debate over the registration and use of public spaces by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The Karnataka Regulation of Use of Government Premises and Public Property Bill, 2026 was cleared by the Cabinet, Home Minister Priyank Kharge said after the meeting.

According to the government, the proposed legislation aims to establish a legal framework governing the use of government lands, buildings, playgrounds, parks, roads and other public assets by private individuals, organisations, associations and societies.

Kharge said the objective was to prevent unauthorised use and misuse of public property while ensuring that such assets are protected for public benefit.

What the Karnataka public property bill proposes

The proposed legislation is expected to lay down procedures for obtaining permission to use government property for events, meetings and other activities.

It also proposes provisions for penalties in cases involving misuse of government premises or damage to public property, according to officials.

The government is expected to introduce the Bill in the Karnataka legislature, where it will be taken up for discussion and passage.

Priyank Kharge denies Bill targets RSS

The proposed legislation comes against the backdrop of a row involving the RSS and its use of public property in Karnataka.

Kharge, however, rejected speculation that the Bill had been framed specifically against the RSS or any other organisation. He said the government did not have a particular institution, association, organisation, society, club, union, syndicate or NGO in mind.

The issue has been part of a wider political debate since 2025, with Kharge opposing the use of government premises and public property by the RSS and calling for the organisation to register formally.

In June, Kharge also wrote to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat seeking clarity on the organisation’s legal status, financial transparency and constitutional accountability.

The development is likely to keep the debate over the use of public property and the legal status of organisations in Karnataka in focus as the proposed legislation moves to the state legislature.