Amidst reports that Rahul Gandhi was insisting on his resignation, the Congress on Monday said that "speculating and rumour mongering" on the proceedings of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meet held on May 25 was "uncalled for and unwarranted."
"The Congress party expects everyone including the media to respect the sanctity of a closed-door meeting of the CWC. Various conjectures, speculations, insinuations, assumptions, gossip and rumour mongering in a section of the media is uncalled for and unwarranted," the press statement shared on Twitter by Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala read.
The statement comes after media reports quoted sources to suggest that Rahul Gandhi continued to insist on his resignation as party president despite the CWC rejecting it.
It was also reported that Gandhi was upset with three senior leaders, including two chief ministers, for them focusing on getting election tickets for their sons rather than working on the party's performance.
The Congress statement went on to add that the role of any specific person was not discussed with regard to the party's dismal performance in the recently-concluded national polls.
"CWC held a collective deliberation on the performance of the party, the challenges before it and also the way ahead, instead of casting aspersions on the role or conduct of any specific individual," it read.
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Explaining the role of the CWC and the powers granted to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, it read, "The CWC is the highest decision making body of the INC. It is a democratic forum to exchange ideas, formulate policies and take corrective action. In this realm and context, members of the CWC expressed their views in the meeting dated May 25."
"The CWC looked at the reverses in the Lok Sabha elections as an opportunity for radical changes and a complete organizational overhaul, for which it authorized the Congress President, Rahul Gandhi."
The letter ends with a request to the media to not engage in speculations regarding the decisions to be taken by Congress.
"We would request everyone, including the media, to not fall into the trap of conjectures or speculations and await the calibrated efforts by the Congress party towards the future course of action," it concluded.
Amid speculations about his resignation, Rahul Gandhi met his party's senior leaders, KC Venugopal and Ahmed Patel, earlier today.
The Congress managed to win only 52 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, far behind the BJP's massive 303. Rahul himself lost from Amethi, the seat he represented since 2004.