- KPCC President Dinesh Gundu Rao likely to quit, say sources
- NDA meeting today to formally elect Narendra Modi as leader
New Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi offered to resign at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting that began at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in New Delhi this morning, but his offer was rejected by the CWC.
Moments after the news came in that the Congress President has offered to resign, the CWC clarified that Rahul has not offered to quit. In a clarification, the Congress said that no such offer was made by Rahul Gandhi and that the CWC meeting was still going on.
CWC is meeting to review the party’s dismal showing in the national election after the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won over 350 seats. The meeting is being held a day after two State Chiefs of the party sent their resignations to their boss who himself could not keep his traditional seat Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.
In a related development, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President Dinesh Gundu Rao has made up his mind to resign, sources said. Dinesh has decided to quit following the resignations of Uttar Pradesh Congress President Raj Babbar and Odisha Congress President Niranjan Patnaik following the drubbing. Sources said that Dinesh is likely to consult his close confidantes before submitting his resignation.
The CWC meeting, chaired by Rahul Gandhi, is being attended
by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former PM Manmohan Singh, Uttar Pradesh (East) in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Chief Ministers of four party-ruled States — Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh — and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
Senior leader and former Union Minister P. Chidambaram was also present alongside his party colleagues including A.K. Antony, Ahmed Patel, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sheila Dikshit, and Mallikarjun Kharge, Ambika Soni, Anand Sharma and Jyotiraditya Scindia. Punjab CM Amarinder Singh and Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot also attended the meeting along with their Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel.
Rahul Gandhi has taken “100 percent responsibility” for the defeat. He had centred his election campaign around Prime Minister Modi, accusing him of corruption in the Rafale deal, unemployment and weak economy. He also ran “chowkidar chor hai” campaign against PM Modi. Ahead of the CWC meeting, several top party leaders claimed that Rahul Gandhi’s relentless “chowkidar chor hai” campaign against Narendra Modi was “negative” in its tone and has backfired.
A meeting of the NDA will be held at 5 pm today where the newly elected NDA MPs will meet to formally elect Prime Minister Narendra Modi as their leader, allowing him to approach the President to stake claim to government formation. The swearing-in ceremony could take place on May 30 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The Prime Minister will also visit his constituency, Varanasi, to thank voters. He won with a margin of 4.79 lakh votes. Modi said that he would also visit his mother in Gujarat to seek her blessings.
As Narendra Modi has already been announced as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the NDA, the meeting is being seen as a mere formality. The meeting of the MPs will be taking place in Parliament’s Central Hall where Modi is likely to address them.
Last Cabinet meet
The Union Cabinet met last evening at the Prime Minister’s Office on Raisina Hill in New Delhi. A resolution was passed to dissolve the 16th Lok Sabha, which was constituted on May 18, 2014. It was immediately followed by a Union Council of Ministers meeting at the Parliament Annexe building.
From there, PM Modi drove to Rashtrapati Bhavan and tendered his resignation to President Ram Nath Kovind, along with that of his Union Council of Ministers.
A press communiqué from the President House later read, The President has accepted the resignation and requested Narendra Modi and the Council of Ministers to continue till the new Government assumes office.
In the evening, President Kovind hosted the entire outgoing Union Council of Ministers over dinner.
This post was published on May 25, 2019 7:50 pm