When Rahul Gandhi made the remark, the counting for polls was still underway.
Rahul Gandhi became a target of meme makers on Wednesday when he inadvertently declared the results of the Congress organisational elections before the official announcement. Now the party has come up with an explanation in defense of the Wayanad MP.
Gandhi, who had been accused of controlling the party via remote control, revealed Mallikarjun Kharge's election as the new Congress President ahead of the official announcement.
He was asked about what his role would be in the party under the new Congress president. He said it was for Kharge to decide.
"I can't comment on Congress President's role, that's for Mr Kharge (party's Presidential candidate) to comment on. The President will decide what my role is...," he said.
When he made the remark, the counting for polls was still underway.
Also read: When Mallikarjun Kharge, the Gandhi family’s man Friday, rebelled against Indira
After he was trolled for the gaffe on Twitter, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh issued a clarification.
He said by the time Gandhi made the remark, it was clear that Kharge would win the polls.
"There have been erroneous media reports that Rahul Gandhi announced Kharge-ji as Congress President during his press meet that began at Adoni at around 1 pm. The fact is that the direction of voting was quite clear before the press meeting began," he tweeted.
Kharge defeated Shashi Tharoor by a handsome margin.
Tharoor had said the Gandhis -- who remained at the helm of the Congress for over two decades -- would remain neutral.
However, senior Congress leaders, including Ashok Gehlot, declared their support for Kharge, a steadfast Gandhi loyalist.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, who quit the party earlier this month, called Rahul Gandhi immature in his explosive resignation letter and said he would control the party via remote control.
The BJP had been calling the Congress a dynasty-run party. To offset the tag that had been getting traction among the masses, the Gandhis decided not to contest the internal polls or back a candidate.
Kharge is the first non-Gandhi Congress president in over two decades.
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