Indian Congress rejects Gandhis resignation offers

NEW DELHI: India’s Sonia and Rahul Gandhi offered to resign Monday after leading the once-dominant Congress party to its worst-ever election defeat last week, only for colleagues to insist the dynasty stay in place.
Congress won just 44 seats in the parliamentary election for 543 seats as the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept to power with the first majority in 30 years.
Sonia, the 67-year-old Congress party president, entrusted campaigning for the first time to her son and vice president Rahul, whose lacklustre performance failed to convince voters as Congress sought a third term in power, according to a news agency.
“They both offered to resign but the party rejected it unanimously,” member of parliament Amarinder Singh told reporters after a meeting of the Congress’s top decision-making body in New Delhi.
Party spokesman Janardan Dwivedi said the Congress Working Committee then passed a unanimous resolution “to let Sonia Gandhi take whatever corrective steps are needed” to revitalise the party.
Speculation has swirled that Congress could call upon Rahul’s younger sister Priyanka to play a greater role. She entered campaigning late in the election cycle to more favourable reviews than her brother.
About 50 Congress supporters chanted slogans for Rahul on Monday as party leaders, including outgoing prime minister Manmohan Singh, met for two-and-half hours.
“Rahul-ji, continue the struggle! We are with you!” the Congress supporters shouted.
“Manmohan Singh said that ‘I take responsibility for the inadequacies of the government’. He told the party president (Sonia) and vice-president (Rahul) that their resignation was not the solution,” Dwivedi said at a news conference after the meeting.