Sonia Gandhi was named interim Congress president on Saturday, returning at the helm after almost 20 months.
The announcement was made Saturday night after Congress Working Committee accepted Rahul Gandhi's resignation during its second meeting of the day.
A number of leaders, including state chiefs and Members of Parliament backed Rahul Gandhi to continue on the post despite his refusal to reconsider his resignation. However, he did not budge from his stand of quitting as party chief.
The CWC then decided to name Sonia Gandhi as the interim party chief.
The CWC passed three resolutions during the meeting. According to one of the resolutions, the CWC unanimously resolved to request Sonia Gandhi to take over as interim chief pending the election of a regular president by the AICC.
Rahul Gandhi, who had taken over from his mother in late 2017, was requested to accept stay on as party chief. However, he declined to withdraw his resignation, it said.
Another resolution said the CWC places on record its profound sense of appreciation and gratitude for the exceptional leadership provided by Rahul Gandhi as Congress president.
“Rahul Gandhi led the party with unbounded drive, fierce determination and dedication,” another resolution said.
“Rahul Gandhi’s instinctive moral compass is evident from the manner in which he has taken personal responsibility for the disappointing performance of the party in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, thereby setting new standards of accountability in public life,” it said.
A third resolution on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir was also adopted by the Congress’ top decision-making body, Congress general secretary organisation KC Venugopal and party’s Chief Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala announced.
Earlier, the names of senior Congress leaders Mukul Wasnik, Mallikarjun Kharge, as well as younger leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot were doing the rounds for the top post. Besides, Milind Deora had batted for either Scindia or Pilot to succeed Rahul Gandhi.
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