Rahul Gandhi to return as Congress chief? Manickam Tagore & Ashwani Kumar fight it out

Slamming Congress leader and former law minister Ashwani Kumar, Congress Tamil Nadu Lok Sabha MP Manickam Tagore, on Sunday advised Kumar to leave 'party affairs to true congress workers'. Calling Kumar a 'Connaught Place coffee shop table leader', he said questioned 'Who knows that without Rahul Gandhi, its the end of Congress?'. Incidentally, Tagore had recently attempted to aggressively reach Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan in the Lok Sabha when the latter had demanded an apology from Rahul Gandhi for 'insulting PM Modi', leading to a ruckus in the parliament.

Rahul owes it to Cong to resume presidentship, end future uncertainty: Ashwani Kumar

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Earlier in the day, talking about Congress' future leadership, Kumar had stated that Rahul Gandhi owed to resume presidentship and dispel uncertainty of the party's future, in an interview to PTI. The Congress veteran noted that the almost unanimous opinion is for Rahul Gandhi to succeed interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi and he should be "directed to do so, if required". The party is yet to elect a permanent president since the Gandhi scion's resignation.

Kumar said, "Given the ground realities of politics in the country today, I think Rahul Gandhi owes it to the party to resume leadership, inspire party persons and win the trust of the nation in the better tradition of the public. We do not have the luxury of time. In these days of shifting political loyalties, people will not wait endlessly for us to get our house in order. If necessary, a direction can be given to Rahul Gandhi to assume leadership," adding that Sonia Gandhi had accepted only to remain as the interim president.

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Rahul Gandhi's resignation, Sonia's accession

Congress has been facing major turmoil since Rahul Gandhi quit from his post as party president, post-Lok Sabha elections. This led to a barrage of resignations from posts like Milind Deora, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Priyanka Chaturvedi and many more. The party barely managed to raise their numbers in the Lok Sabha after winning a mere 44 seats. Amidst a lot of turmoil with Priyanka Vadra too being considered, Congress finally went back to their safe option and named Sonia Gandhi as its interim chief.

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