Congress Dissolves UP, Karnataka Committees as Rahul Gandhi’s Resignation Resolve Brings Major Churn

The Congress party on Monday dissolved its Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka committees in the wake of the recent electoral debacle. The party’s working committee is likely to meet next week to decide on the post of the party president as Rahul Gandhi is “adamant on resignation”. The party has also decided to set up a three-member panel to look into complaints of gross indiscipline during the election.

According to party sources, the committee will meet next week and request Gandhi to continue holding the position of president. The working committees being helmed by Priyanka Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindia in Uttar Pradesh have effectively been dissolved.

According to a statement issued by Congress general secretary organisation KC Venugopal, a two-member team will now oversee election preparations for the Assembly polls in the state. Bypolls are due for 11 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh after the respective MLAs were elected to Parliament.

Ajay Kumar Lallu, leader of the Congress Legislative Party, has been appointed in-charge for making organisational changes in UP East for a defined period, the party said. Scindia will announce the name of the person who will be in charge of making organisational changes in UP West, it added.

The shake-up in the party’s state unit comes after Priyanka Gandhi and Scindia held review meetings following the Congress’s debacle in the Lok Sabha polls, in which it managed to win only 52 seats nationally.

Priyanka Gandhi and Scindia, who were appointed as the party general secretaries just ahead of the parliamentary polls, had campaigned vigorously for the Congress candidates in Uttar Pradesh. But of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the Congress could manage to win only Raebareli. Even party president Rahul Gandhi lost to Union minister Smriti Irani from his family stronghold of Amethi.

Gandhi had offered to quit as party chief during a meeting of the Congress Working Committee on May 25 which was called to analyse the party’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls, in which it managed to win just 52 seats.