If Rahul wants to leave, he must find replacement: Moily

Senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily on Saturday said Rahul Gandhi should reconsider his stand of resigning from the party post and suggested that the latter should first find a suitable candidate before quitting.

"The question is people are raising their voices in some states, the discipline is being broken. The party cannot remain in a relaxed state in such a time. Rahul Gandhi is still the president and he will have to take a tough stance and even if he wants to leave he will have to make sure he hands the role to the right person," Moily told ANI here.

Moily's statement comes after Gandhi offered his resignation at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in Delhi on May 25 following the debacle in Lok Sabha elections. The CWC had unanimously rejected the offer and passed a new resolution which authorised Gandhi to revamp the organisation.

He added that, there was dissent at the time Rahul's mother Sonia Gandhi took over the reins of the party, but later her tenure as the party president proved to be fruitful.

"The people raising their voices have to be stopped even when Sonia Gandhi took over as the president of the party there was a lot of indiscipline. But right from the time she took over until now, there has been no split in the party, so both Sonia and Rahul should take charge now," he said.

Moily added that "unity and integrity of democracy" were linked to the Congress. He also advised his party leaders and workers not to lose faith because of the defeat in Lok Sabha elections.

"The unity and integrity of democracy are closely linked to the party, just because we have lost one or two elections does not mean the leaders and workers should lose heart. Both Rahul and Soniaji should take strong and immediate action and sort this out quickly," Moily said.