Rahul refuses to go back on his decision to quit as AICC President

New Delhi: Amid Congress attempts to persuade Rahul Gandhi to continue as Party President after its national election rout, his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot met  him this morning.

Sources say the AICC Chief has called a meeting at his home at 4.30 pm today.

Rahul Gandhi has refused to go back on the decision that he conveyed to the Party at a post-mortem by the Congress Working Committee on Saturday. The Party’s top decision-making body will meet again this week, say sources, if Rahul Gandhi does not change his mind.

“He will not change his mind, though I want him to continue,” said Tarun Gogoi, a member of the Congress Working Committee. He said Rahul Gandhi was extremely upset with senior leaders of the party. “He was not happy with some of our seniors. The way many senior leaders behaved, he felt they should have worked hard but they were not up to his expectations,” the former Assam Chief Minister said.

On Monday, Rahul Gandhi told two Congress leaders, Ahmed Patel and K.C. Venugopal, to look for his replacement, according to sources.

In its 134-year history, the Congress has been led mostly by members of the Nehru-Gandhi family and has not done very well under the rare non-Gandhi chief, like Sitaram Kesri.

But Rahul Gandhi has now firmly said it is time the Party looks for a non-Gandhi as its leader and go for a total reset.

The Congress failed to win a single seat in 17 States and Union Territories and won only 52 seats in the 543-Member Lok Sabha — not enough to qualify even for the post of Leader of Opposition (a party needs 55 for that).