After the Lok Sabha poll debacle, while offering to resign as president of Congress party during the meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Saturday, Rahul Gandhi said that he wanted to work for the party's ideology and not for any post.
As per sources, quoting Mahatma Gandhi in his address, the Congress president said, "Mahatma Gandhi fought for ideology and for people, irrespective of their cast and religion, but never took any post."
Hitting out at senior party leaders, Gandhi accused them of pressurizing him to give tickets to their sons in the elections. Without naming, his indication was towards Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, and former finance minister P Chidambaram.
As per sources, during the CWC meeting, when Jyotiraditya Scindia suggested that the party should consolidate leadership in specific regions, Gandhi, in a satirical tone, questioned him, "Is it necessary to consolidate leadership in a region so that chief ministers pressurise the party's top brass to give tickets to their sons?"
Rajasthan chief minister Gehlot's son Vaibhav Gehlot contested from Jodhpur parliamentary constituency and lost, while Kamal Nath's son Nakul Nath has won from Chhindwara and P Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram registered a victory from Sivaganga.
Gandhi also expressed displeasure over sluggishness of the party leaders in raising the Rafale deal issue, sources added.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also criticised party leaders saying that her brother Rahul was left alone when he was criticizing the BJP on its policies.
During the CWC meeting, taking moral responsibility for the defeat in the polls, the Congress president offered to resign but it was rejected 'unanimously' by the party members who authorized him to do a complete overhaul and restructure the party at every level.