Cong leaders, allies urge Rahul not to quit

New Delhi/Chennai: The chorus of voices urging Rahul Gandhi not to quit as Congress president grows louder with leaders of the party and also allies DMK and the RJD on Tuesday saying he remains the “best and competent” person to pull the party out of the crisis after the Lok Sabha poll debacle.
Adding to the voices in the opposition UPA against Gandhi’s offer to resign, Tamil superstar Rajinikanth said the Congress chief should stay on as he was a “youngster” and perhaps not got the cooperation of senior party leaders.
DMK chief M K Stalin appealed to Gandhi not to step down, saying he has won the hearts of the people though his party lost the elections while RJD supremo Lalu Prasad termed the offer to quit as “suicidal”, asserting it would amount to “falling into the BJP’s trap”.
Stalin spoke to Gandhi over phone and “appealed to him to give up the idea of resigning as party president”, a DMK statement said in Chennai.
After his party’s colossal electoral defeat, Gandhi offered to quit on May 25 during a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), which unanimously rejected his offer and authorised him to overhaul and restructure the party at all levels. Gandhi is reported to be insisting on his resignation and adamant on having a non-Gandhi installed as the party head.
As senior Congress leaders made a determined bid to convince Gandhi to withdraw his resignation, Shashi Tharoor said Gandhi has led the party from the front and still has far more to offer to the party. Congress bagged 52 seats, marginally up from 44 secured in 2014.
Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit appealed to Gandhi to withdraw his decision, saying the party has bounced back in the past from challenging circumstances to emerge triumphant. (PTI)