Congress leadership crisis: Another round of meeting taking place

Congress President Rahul Gandhi has made it clear that he would be not taking back his resignation. Rahul Gandhi's resignation came after party slumped to its second consecutive general election loss winning only 52 out of 542 seats in Lok Sabha. 

While the Congress working committee had unanimously rejected Rahul Gandhi's resignation on Saturday, the President is in no mood to take it back. He wants someone else to be made the party chief, that too a non-Gandhi. Senior  Congress leaders are again meeting Rahul Gandhi today to decide on a way forward. Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot, Priyanka Gandhi, KC Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala are among the leaders who have come to Congress President's residence for consultations. 

If Rahul Gandhi sticks to his stance, then the party will be forced to look for an alternative candidate. 

Delhi: Rajasthan Deputy CM Sachin Pilot arrives at the residence of Congress President Rahul Gandhi. pic.twitter.com/TA6leEblcT

— ANI (@ANI) May 28, 2019

If indeed someone else becomes Congress President, it will be for the first time in over two decades that a non-Gandhi will become the party chief. Earlier on Monday, KC Venugopal and Ahmed Patel had met Rahul Gandhi to urge him to reconsider his decision, but Gandhi didn't budge. Patel though denied that he had met for that purpose and tweeted, "I had sought time before the CWC to meet the Congress president to discuss routine administrative work. The meeting today was in that context. All other speculation is incorrect and baseless". 

If the current situation continues, the Congress Working Committee is likely to assemble in a few days to take stock of the situation. 

The information which has come out from the last CWC indicated that Rahul Gandhi expressed his displeasure at senior leaders for putting family over party. Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot particularly came for heavy criticism. Priyanka Gandhi too slammed senior leaders saying no one helped Rahul Gandhi at a time when he was taking on the combined might of the Modi government. 

With inputs from Ravi Tripathi