Rahul may offer to step down

New Delhi: The highest policy-making body of the Indian National Congress will introspect on the humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha poll when it meets on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, senior working committee members are rejecting the idea of a change of leadership in the party in the wake of the setback of the party. Sources also said that Congress president Rahul Gandhi may offer to quit from the post of party president but they were sure that it would not be accepted.

There is a proposal to hold an either "chintan" or "manthan" meeting of all the top leaders of the party very soon. It might be "Panchmari-2" type of conclave where the importance of coalition politics would be the main theme. At the Panchmari conclave, Congress had taken a decision of not going for an alliance with a caste-based party which was overruled by the Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Shimla conclave before the 2004 Lok Sabha poll.

At Saturday's CWC, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would be present to take stock the current political scenario of the country after the poll debacle.

In the meantime, many state party chiefs have sent their resignations from the party post. Uttar Pradesh state party chief Raj Babbar, Odisha state president Niranjan Pattanayak had sent their resignation to AICC. But one senior leader has asked other state party presidents to not follow suit as it would put psychological pressure on the party president who is smarting over his defeat in Amethi.

Many of the party leaders feel that only Rahul Gandhi can be held responsible for the party's dismal showing. However, in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the party has fared extremely well due to Gandhi's decision to contest from Wayanad in Kerala.