Spate of resignations by Cong office-bearers

Several office-bearers of the Congress, including its general secretary in charge of Madhya Pradesh Dipak Babaria and Goa unit chief Girish Chodankar, resigned on Friday, after MP Vivek Tankha quit as the chairman of the party's legal and human rights cell and urged others to follow suit to give a free hand to Rahul Gandhi to restructure the party at all levels.

Both Babaria and Chodankar took the responsibility for the Lok Sabha poll debacle of the party in their respective states.

Delhi PCC's working president Rajesh Lilothia and Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee working president Ponnam Prabhakar also quit, as also a number of other office-bearers in various states.

A common letter of resignation was being circulated on social media with the names and signatures of certain Congressmen, including those of Haryana Mahila Congress chief Sumitra Chauhan and All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretaries Rajesh Dharmani and Virender Rathore.

However, there was no official word from the party about the letter.

"The firm decision of Rahul Gandhi Ji to not withdraw his resignation as Congress President, morally does not permit me to continue. The defeat is our collective responsibility, hence I hereby tender my resignation forthwith as Goa Congress President," Chodankar said in a tweet.

In his resignation letter addressed to party chief Gandhi, Babaria wrote, "In the wake of the Lok Sabha poll results, you submitted your resignation owing total responsibility.

"I believe that it is not only your responsibility but a collective responsibility of all the leaders who were in the front and who were responsible for leading the party in their respective states. Therefore, I have decided to resign as General Secretary - AICC and in-charge of MP. I hereby submit my resignation as GS and request you to please accept it and oblige."