New Delhi: The Goa and Himachal Pradesh Congress and its legislative wings on Wednesday passed separate resolutions urging Rahul Gandhi to withdraw his resignation from the post of party president and appealed to him to work for strengthening the organisation.
The Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) and the Congress Legislature Party (CLP), at a joint meeting here, passed a unanimous resolution urging Rahul to withdraw his resignation from the top post, senior party leader Chandrakant Kavlekar told reporters.
Gandhi offered to resign during the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in Delhi last week after the party's poor performance in the general elections. However, the highest decision-making body of the party unanimously rejected his resignation.
Kavlekar said Rahul's act of tendering his resignation after the opposition party's dismal show in the just held polls shows his "large-heartedness".
"We want that he should continue in the chair and strengthen the party so that we will win all the future elections," Kavlekar said.
He said Rahul never lacked in his efforts to work for the 133-year-old party, which lost second successive Lok Sabha elections.
Rahul, who was elected to the top party post in December 2017, should complete his term, Kavlekar said.
The Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) executive committee also urged Rahul Gandhi to stay as the Congress chief in the interest of the nation and the party, a Congress leader said.
The executive committee also urged him to start rebuilding the party and restore the confidence of the people in it.
The resolution was sent to the Congress Working Committee (CWC), which had earlier rejected Rahul Gandhi's offer to quit as the party president following the drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections.
Presenting the resolution before the executive committee, HPCC president Kuldeep Singh Rathore said, "There is no need to get demoralised by the defeat in the recent Lok Sabha elections. There was no shortcoming in the electioneering by Rahul Gandhi."
The state Congress chief said it was not the time to level allegations but to work unitedly to strengthen the party.
Former chief minister Virbhadra Singh too supported the resolution.
"This is the time to provide strength to our leader Rahul Gandhi. The party and the nation require Rahul Gandhi's leadership," he said.
The leader of opposition in the state assembly, Mukesh Agnihotri, said the BJP wanted a Congress-free country due to which it was pursuing a policy of getting Rahul Gandhi removed from the post.
"We should not allow the BJP to succeed in its policy," he said
The executive committee congratulated the Congress chief on his victory in Wayanad, where he won by a margin of over four lakh votes.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI)