More resignations in Cong, 36 UPCC members quit taking responsibility for poll debacle

Lucknow, June 29 (PTI): As many as 36 office-bearers of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee resigned from their posts on Saturday continuing the spate of resignations in the party following its Lok Sabha election debacle. Congress leader in Legislative Council Deepak Singh, the state unit’s senior vice president Ranjit Singh Judev, general secretary Aradhna Mishra Mona, vice president RP Tripathi and many others have resigned taking moral responsibility for the party’s defeat, an official release of the party said.

Among the members who quit party posts were media coordinator Rajiv Bakshi, joint media coordinator Piyush Mishra, Onkar Nath SIngh, Amarnath Agarwal and Mukesh Singh Chauhan, Priyanka Gupta and Ashok Singh.

“As you (Rahul) are adamant on your resignation, there is no point in my continuing in the post. I resign as party leader in Legislative Council and as state general secretary,” Deepak Singh said in a statement issued here.

“I request you to withdraw your resignation otherwise we will be forced to take a bigger step,” he added.

More resignations are likely in the party state unit, a senior party leader said.

The UPCC has nearly 100 members. The members who have resigned include Satish Ajmani, Shyam Kishore Shukla, Hanuman Tripathi, spokesman Dwijendra Tripathi, Shiv Pandey, Pankaj Tiwari and Manju Dixit.

After Congress president Rahul Gandhi announced his decision to quit in the wake of the party’s dismal performance in Lok Sabha polls, many leaders of state units have followed suit.

Gandhi has reiterated that there is no going back on his decision, despite requests by leaders from his party and outside to continue in the post.

Earlier, state unit chief Raj Babbar had quit after the party could win only Rae Bareli seat in Uttar Pradesh and even lost it traditional stronghold of Amethi.

Party MP Vivek Tankha quit as the chairman of the party’s legal and human rights cell on Thursday and urged others to do the same to give a free hand to Rahul Gandhi to restructure the party at all levels.

Party general secretary in charge of Madhya Pradesh Dipak Babaria, Goa unit chief Girish Chodankar, Delhi PCC’s working president Rajesh Lilothia and Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee working president Ponnam Prabhakar have quit, as also a number of other office-bearers in various states.

Party wants Rahul Gandhi to continue as president — Congress

Amid a spate of resignations by Congress office-bearers, the party said Saturday that the entire organisation, in one voice, wants its president Rahul Gandhi to continue in the post.

The Congress also mocked Home Minister and BJP president Amit Shah after he blamed first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru for the problems in Jammu and Kashmir, saying he draws his knowledge of history from WhatsApp and that the opposition party can send him history books.

At a press conference, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said many party leaders have resigned, but the prevailing sentiment is that Gandhi should continue as the party president.

He parried queries about why several senior party leaders had not quit their position, insisting that “people have different ways of expressing their request” which is that, he added, Gandhi should remain the Congress chief.

Khera noted that the Congress Working Committee, the party’s apex body, had also passed a resolution, urging Gandhi to remain at the helm.

Several office-bearers of the Congress, including its general secretary incharge of Madhya Pradesh Dipak Babaria and Goa unit chief Girish Chodankar, had resigned on Friday, after MP Vivek Tankha quit as the chairman of the party’s legal and human rights cell and urged others to follow suit to give a free hand to Rahul Gandhi to restructure the party at all levels.

Asked about Shah’s attack on Nehru and blaming the Congress for troubles in Jammu and Kashmir, Khera said the Congress wants to focus on issues like unemployment facing the masses today.

He then took the Whatsapp dig at Shah.

He said before Muslim League, it was Veer Sawarkar, a reverential figure in the BJP, and Hindu Mahasabha which had propogated two-nation theory.

Shah had blamed the Congress for partition.