Rahul Gandhi quits as India’s Congress party president in wake of poll defeat
The member of the powerful dynasty stepped down after a crushing reverse at the hands of Narendra Modu’s Hindu nationalists.
Rahul Gandhi has resigned as president of India’s opposition Congress party to take responsibility for its crushing defeat in recent elections.
Mr Gandhi announced his resignation on Twitter on Wednesday, saying he was stepping down because accountability is “critical for the future growth of our party”.
Mr Gandhi said prime minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist party used “the entire machinery of the Indian state” to fight against the Congress party and other opposition parties in the elections.
Mr Gandhi, whose great-grandfather, grandmother and father were all prime ministers, lost his own seat, long a Congress party bastion, to his ruling party rival in the election, marking the end of an era for modern India’s most powerful political dynasty.
He, however, won a seat from another constituency.
