Brand new drama of grand old party: Naqvi on Rahul's resignation

Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi Wednesday termed Rahul Gandhi's announcement of his resignation as Congress president on Twitter as a "brand new drama of the grand old party" while several of his BJP colleagues chose the occasion to highlight the difference between the two parties.

Union minister Prakash Javadekar said the timetable for organisation election and membership drive is already in place in the BJP.

"What I can do if nothing else is happening in the other party," he told reporters when asked about Gandhi's resignation. He was apparently referring to a long spell of continuing uncertainty in the Congress after Gandhi first offered to resign following his party's drubbing in the recent Lok Sabha elections.

Asserting that he is no longer the Congress president, Gandhi said in a letter, which he shared on social media, that it had been an honour to serve the party whose values and ideals have served as the "lifeblood of this beautiful nation".

Asked for her reaction, Union minister Smriti Irani, who had defeated Gandhi in Amethi in the Lok Sabha polls, merely said, "Jai Shri Ram".

BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli described the Congress as a family-run party unlike the BJP which is, he said, runs democratically.

In the BJP, any ordinary worker can aspire towards reaching the highest echelons, he said, adding that Narendra Modi's journey from a poor family to occupying the highest elected office of the land is testimony to this fact.

"The Congress on the other hand is run by the Nehru-Gandhi family. Their party president is almost always from this first family or is someone who is their selected nominee and loyalist. It's up to them to decide who will be president or resign from this post," he said.

Naqvi said, "It is a brand new drama of the grand old party and we have nothing to do with it."