Rajya Sabha MP Pratap Singh Bajwa, who resigned as the Vice Chairman of AICC Foreign Affairs Department on Saturday, said that all senior leaders in the party should resign from their respective posts in order to give a free hand to Rahul Gandhi to revamp the party.
"The idea which is going on in Congress is that the party needs to make structural changes at a big stage. It needs to get in new faces. A deep introspection needs to be done regarding the second consecutive loss of the party. To strengthen Rahul Gandhi's hands, to show confidence in his leadership and to convince him that whatever decision he will take to improve Congress' image we are with him, I feel all the senior leaders, whether they are Congress working committee members or present Chief Minister or state presidents should resign," Bajwa told ANI.
"The one whose work is good and Rahul is happy with it, that person's resignation will not be accepted. This is our basic motive - to give Rahul Gandhi a free hand. Let him make an earnest effort to make a change. In 70 years, Congress has been in power for 50 years. We should not feel disappointed. BJP was restricted to just two seats in 1984, but they worked hard to make the party come up," he added.
Besides Bajwa, former vice-chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and senior Congress leader Marri Shashidhar Reddy also appealed to all State in charges, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) presidents and Congress Working Committee (CWC) office bearers to submit their resignations in order to give Gandhi a free hand to reorganise and revamp the Congress.
Reddy said, "I appeal to the office bearers of the CWC and AICC to submit their resignation. It is time to give a new look to the Congress party. I once again appeal to Rahul Gandhi to take back his resignation and facilitate the reorganisation and restructuring of the Congress party."
Gandhi, who became the party president in 2017, offered to step down from his post at the CWC meeting on May 25, taking moral responsibility for Congress' dismal performance in the 17th general elections.
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However, his resignation offer was unanimously rejected by the CWC. So far, taking moral responsibility for the party's defeat in Lok Sabha elections, over a dozen Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) leaders submitted their resignation from their respective party posts in the state.
Meanwhile, all the Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states will meet Gandhi on Monday, urging him to take back his decision to resign from the post of party president.