Harish Rawat resigns as Cong in-charge of Assam

Former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat announced his resignation as the Congress general secretary in-charge of Assam on Thursday, taking moral responsibility of the party's poor show in the north-eastern state in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha polls.

Rawat said as the in-charge of party affairs in Assam, he was responsible for the below-par performance of the Congress in the parliamentary polls and thus, had decided to step down from the post.

The resignation comes in the wake of Rahul Gandhi resigning as the Congress chief on Wednesday.

"We the office bearers of the Congress are responsible for the party's defeat and organisational failure. I am responsible for the below-expected result of the party in Assam as in-charge of the state. I accept my shortcoming and resign as general secretary in-charge of state," Rawat said on Twitter.

He added that for people like him, posts were not important, but a leader like Gandhi, who inspired the workers, should continue to lead the party.

"If the leadership remains in his hand, it is possible that he could lead the party to victory in 2022 assembly elections in states and also in 2024 Lok Sabha elections to defeat the BJP and Narendra Modi. That is why all democratic forces and Congress workers want to see Rahul Gandhi as Congress president," the former Uttarakhand chief minister said.

In the parliamentary polls held in April-May, the Congress managed to win only three of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam.