Congress President Rahul Gandhi in a meeting with senior Congress leaders Ahmed Patel and KC Venugopal insisted on his resignation and told them to find a replacement for the post. According to one Congress leader, he has asked senior functionaries of the party to find his replacement soon.

Sources close to Gandhi said he is not abandoning the post even though he is determined to quit. He will give the party time to choose a new person for the job. Rahul Gandhi’s mother Sonia Gandhi and sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra reportedly agreed with his decision – they had initially tried to get him to change his mind – and acknowledge that the Congress “has to come to terms with the fact that there has to be a change of guard” and a total reset.

Rahul hasn’t changed his mind despite several attempts and Congress Working Committee (CWC) unanimously rejecting his offer to resign from the post. Sources also say Rahul Gandhi has not changed his mind, despite several Congress leaders pleading with him over the weekend and asking him to go for a full overhaul. 

“It is not necessary that the president should be from Gandhi family,” NDTV quoted Congress sources as saying. He reportedly shot down the idea that his sister Priyanka could be his replacement.  “Don’t drag my sister into it,” Gandhi is supposed to have said when Priyanka’s name came up, according to NDTV.

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