Sanctity of CWC meet should be respected: Cong

After the debacle in the Lok Sabha polls and calls for accountability, the Congress on Monday urged everyone to respect the sanctity of its working committee meeting, while asking the media not to fall into the trap of "conjectures, insinuations, gossip and rumour mongering".

Referring to the May 25 meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body of the party, Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said it was a democratic forum for exchange of ideas and taking corrective action, adding that it was a "closed-door" meet and any speculation about it was unwarranted and uncalled for.

He added that the CWC was a forum for formulating policies and taking corrective action and in this context, the members had expressed their views at the meeting.

Surjewala said the CWC saw the reverses in the Lok Sabha polls as an opportunity for radical changes and a complete organisational overhaul and authorised Congress president Rahul Gandhi for the necessary measures.

"The Congress party expects everyone, including the media, to respect the sanctity of a closed-door meeting of the CWC. Various conjectures, speculation, insinuations, assumptions, gossip and rumour mongering in a section of the media is uncalled for and unwarranted.

"The CWC held a collective deliberation on the performance of the party, the challenges before it as also the way ahead, instead of casting aspersions on the role or conduct of any specific individual. The gist of the deliberations was made public in the CWC resolution of May 25, 2019," the Congress leader said in a statement.

"We would request everyone, including the media, to not fall into the trap of conjectures or speculation and await the calibrated efforts by the Congress party towards the future course of action," he added.

Surjewala was reacting to news reports about the happenings at the May 25 meeting, the first of the CWC after the Congress's humiliating defeat in the parliamentary polls, where Rahul Gandhi offered to resign as the party chief.

Meanwhile, resignations of state Congress chiefs have started coming in with Punjab and Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) presidents Sunil Jakhar and Ajoy Kumar quitting their posts.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot also met All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K C Venugopal and senior party leader Ahmed Patel, triggering speculation.

There are also reports of Gandhi not meeting anyone, amid speculation that he is insisting on his resignation.

The Congress chief, however, tweeted on Monday morning remembering the country's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, on his death anniversary. He also attended a prayer meeting in Nehru's memory.

Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former president Pranab Mukherjee, former prime minister Manmohan Singh and former vice president M Hamid Ansari were among those who paid floral tributes to Nehru on his 55th death anniversary at Shanti Vana here.