English हिन्दी
Connect with us

Latest Politics News

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

Published

7 years ago

on

Rahul Gandhi

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.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

India News

Rahul Gandhi attacks Centre ahead of Vladimir Putin’s India visit

Rahul Gandhi alleged that the government discourages visiting foreign dignitaries from meeting Opposition leaders, calling it a sign of “insecurity,” hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in Delhi.

Published

1 day ago

on

December 4, 2025

By

Rahul Gandhi

As Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in Delhi today for the India-Russia Annual Summit, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi has renewed his charge that the Centre discourages visiting foreign leaders from meeting Opposition representatives. He called it a sign of “insecurity” within the government.

Rahul Gandhi alleges break in long-followed tradition

Speaking outside Parliament, Rahul Gandhi said that it has traditionally been the norm for visiting foreign leaders to meet the Leader of the Opposition, a practice he claims continued during the tenures of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh.

He alleged that the present government advises foreign dignitaries against such meetings. “When foreign leaders come, the government suggests they should not meet the Leader of the Opposition. This is their policy,” Gandhi said. He added that a meeting with the Opposition offers visiting leaders a broader perspective, as “we too represent India.”

Gandhi further stated that this approach reflects the government’s reluctance to allow engagement between the Opposition and foreign guests.

Former Foreign Secretary counters Gandhi’s remarks

Responding to Gandhi’s allegations, former Foreign Secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Harsh Vardhan Shringla said visiting leaders operate on very tight schedules and there is no protocol mandating a meeting with the Leader of the Opposition. He stressed that such interactions depend entirely on the guest’s time and preference, noting that the required meetings are those with the President and the Prime Minister.

Putin’s schedule packed with bilateral engagements

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to land in Delhi this evening on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation. His itinerary includes:

  • A private dinner with PM Modi
  • Visit to Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial at Raj Ghat
  • Engagements at Bharat Mandapam and Hyderabad House
  • A banquet hosted by President Droupadi Murmu

The visit forms part of the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit.

Continue Reading

India News

TMC MLA Humayun Kabir suspended after Babri Mosque replica proposal sparks row

TMC suspended MLA Humayun Kabir after he proposed building a Babri mosque replica in Murshidabad, a move that drew criticism from the party and sparked political tension.

Published

1 day ago

on

December 4, 2025

By

Trinamool Congress on Thursday suspended MLA Humayun Kabir after he publicly announced plans to construct a replica of the Babri Masjid in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district. Party leaders said Kabir had earlier been cautioned for making such statements but continued to push ahead with the controversial proposal.

Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim said the MLA’s remarks were unacceptable, stressing that the party stood firmly by its secular stance. “We noticed that one of our MLAs suddenly declared he would build the Babri masjid. We had warned him before. As per the party’s decision, we are suspending him,” he said.

Kabir vows to continue project, may form new party

Kabir had planned to lay the foundation stone for the mosque replica in Beldanga on December 6. Sources indicated he is likely to resign from Trinamool on Friday and float a new party while continuing with the project.

The choice of date and nature of the project drew sharp criticism from the Trinamool leadership. Hakim alleged the move reflected a “divisional politics” strategy aligned with the BJP. “Why December 6? He could build a school or college. This is divisional politics,” he said.

Sources also said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was “hugely annoyed” by Kabir’s remarks and informed him that the party would not support or associate with such activities.

Governor raises concerns, administration on alert

West Bengal Governor Ananda Bose questioned why action was not being taken if the MLA’s statements risked creating a law-and-order issue. He said intelligence inputs suggested attempts to turn Murshidabad into a “hub of scandal,” adding that authorities would not remain silent if communal tensions were provoked.

Officials confirmed that while Kabir has permission to hold the December 6 event, the administration is maintaining a high-level alert in Murshidabad.

Minutes after his suspension, Kabir withdrew from Mamata Banerjee’s rally in the India–Bangladesh border district, where she was protesting against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists.

BJP attacks Kabir over remarks

BJP spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo condemned Kabir’s comments, claiming they were intended to “create communal tensions.” He said any attempt to raise structures linked to historical rulers would trigger disputes similar to the Babri Masjid conflict.

Continue Reading

India News

Karnataka Power Shift: What Siddaramaiah–DK Shivakumar compromise formula means

A closer look at the emerging ‘compromise formula’ between Karnataka’s top leaders Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, and how it may shape the state’s political future.

Published

6 days ago

on

November 29, 2025

By

A possible settlement between Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has emerged, signalling a calmer phase in the leadership tussle within the state Congress. While the final decision rests with the party leadership in Delhi, details of the so-called “compromise formula” are gradually becoming clearer.

Breakfast diplomacy calms tensions

After weeks of speculation over friction between the two top leaders, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar met over breakfast today. The meeting, aimed at projecting unity, served as a symbolic reset after their strained ties over the chief ministership question.

Analysts believe the optics were crucial — the Congress successfully avoided a public showdown by diffusing tensions before they escalated further.

A transition of power likely, say analysts

According to political observers, the compromise indicates a strong possibility of Shivakumar taking over as Chief Minister in a smooth transition, potentially as early as March–April 2026.
For now, sources say the arrangement requires Shivakumar to continue as Deputy Chief Minister without pushing for immediate change.

In return, the formula reportedly includes more cabinet positions for leaders loyal to Shivakumar and continuation of his role as the state Congress chief. Siddaramaiah is also expected to back Shivakumar as the party’s face for the 2028 Assembly election.

Why the Congress prefers this route

Replacing Siddaramaiah abruptly would not only upset internal balance but could also weaken the party, given his stature and mass appeal. Shivakumar, despite his influence, does not have the numbers within the legislature to force a takeover, making compromise the most viable path.

Siddaramaiah has already stated that this will be his final term as Chief Minister. With his legacy secure and his position as one of Karnataka’s tallest leaders intact, he appears willing to enable a dignified transition when the time comes.

Variables that could shape the final outcome

The success of the formula depends on three key factors:

1. Trust between the two leaders

Whether Shivakumar believes Siddaramaiah will keep his word remains uncertain. Karnataka’s political history is full of last-minute shifts, giving rise to the phrase “natak in Karnataka”.

2. Decision-making by the Congress high command

Delhi’s leadership must ensure the transition happens on time and without internal resistance, especially in the run-up to the 2028 Assembly polls.

3. Caste equations and political alignment

Siddaramaiah is the strongest face of the AHINDA bloc, while Shivakumar represents the OBC Vokkaliga community. The Congress cannot afford to alienate either group, making the timing and execution of any transition extremely delicate.

Continue Reading

Trending

© Copyright 2022 APNLIVE.com