New Delhi :
With Rahul Gandhi making it clear that he is no longer the president of the Congress party, reports are emerging that veteran leader Motilal Vora is likely to be the interim chief of the grand old party till the Congress Working Committee (CWC) elects a new president.Â
90-year-old Vora currently holds the post of general secretary in-charge of administration, Congress.Â
Traditionally, in the absence of any emergency, Congress is led by the senior most leader until a chief is appointed.
According to the constitution of the party, “In the event of any emergency by reason of any cause such as the death or resignation of the President elected as above, the senior-most general secretary will discharge the routine functions of the President until the Working Committee appoints a provisional President pending the election of a regular President by the AICC.â€
However, Vora has termed these reports as baseless and said "I have no information about this."
Senior Congress leader Motilal Vora on reports that he will be the interim president of the party: I have no information about this. pic.twitter.com/SE6lZP5aHi
— ANI (@ANI) July 3, 2019
Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi said he is no longer Congress president and the party's working committee should meet immediately to decide on his successor.
He later issued a statement on Twitter, saying: "It is an honour for me to serve the Congress Party, whose values and ideals have served as the lifeblood of our beautiful nation. I owe the country and my organisation a debt of tremendous gratitude and love, Jai Hind."
"As President of the Congress party, I am responsible for the loss of the 2019 election. Accountability is critical for the future growth of our party," he said in a letter that was put on his Twitter account.
"It is for this reason that I have resigned as Congress President."
"Rebuilding the party requires hard decisions and numerous people will have to be made accountable for the failure of 2019. It would be unjust to hold others accountable but ignore my own responsibility as President of the party," the letter reads.
Gandhi said that while it was important for someone new to lead the Congress, "it would not be correct for me to select that person".
