Sonia, Rahul to quit?

New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi may offer to quit in the wake of the worst-ever electoral drubbing, at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting slated to meet on Monday. According to sources, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi did own up full responsibility for the poll debacle. However, it is most unlikely that it would be accepted and is expected to be rejected outright.

Most Congress leaders declared that Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi cannot be blamed for the poll debacle, as there was public anger against the government and neither of them was in the government. Several Congress leaders are favouring introspection and corrective action. A senior leader said that the Congress, which has faced similar electoral debacles in the past, has emerged stronger each time. Even now, he asserted, the Congress will emerge stronger from the current political crisis.

Rahul Gandhi has already declared, “The Congress has done pretty badly and there is a lot for us to think about. As Congress vice-president, I hold myself responsible.”In her capacity as the party president, Sonia Gandhi had also taken the responsibility for the defeat.

She said, “The Congress had gone to polls on the plank of its achievements, policies and programmes. We did not receive the kind of support we had hoped for. Victory or defeat is part of democracy. This mandate was against the Congress. We accept the verdict of the people with humility. I congratulate the new Government. We do hope that the new government that will be formed will not compromise with the unity of the country.”