I’ve already made my stand clear: Gandhi rejects Gehlot’s plea urging him to continue as party chief

Rahul Gandhi is adamant on stepping down as party president following the party's debacle in the elections, and has reiterated his stand time and again, turning down the repeated requests of Congress leaders of various levels.

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New Delhi: Ahead of his meeting with Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states today, Rahul Gandhi once again reiterated his stand of stepping down as the Congress president. Responding to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s which said only Gandhi can lead the party in the current scenario, he said that he had already made his stand clear. “I have already made my stand clear and you all know it,” Gandhi told reporters. "We firmly believe that only he (Rahul Gandhi) can lead the party in the current scenario, his commitment towards well being of our country and countrymen is un-compromised and unmatched," Ashok Gehlot wrote on Twitter. Gandhi will meet Congress chief ministers later in the day, for the first time since he offered to resign as the party chief last month. The meeting comes in the backdrop of a continuing suspense over Gandhi's future role in the party and a spate of resignations by Congress leaders at various levels. The CMs have decided to show their solidarity with Gandhi, as he remains adamant on stepping down as party president following the party's debacle in the elections. Last week, while addressing leaders from Haryana state coordination committee who urged him to continue to lead the party and take back his resignation, Gandhi had said that he will remain stuck to his decision. He said he did it to ensure accountability for the party's Lok Sabha poll debacle and there was no question of going back on it. "I have resigned after taking full responsibility and ensuring accountability for the party's defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. I cannot ask others to resign too. It is up to them if they want to take responsibility," he told the leaders. He also turned down the joint-plea made by Congress MPs of the Lok Sabha asking him to reconsider his decision of stepping down as the president of the party. The Gandhi scion had said that he won’t go back on his decision. "I am not the Congress president and I am not going back on my decision," he told his party's Lok Sabha members.