TLTP
\nNEW DELHI
\nThe leader of India\u2019s main opposition Congress party offered to resign on Monday, local media reported, after almost two dozen top leaders called for better decision-making in the party, which has ruled for much of the country\u2019s independent history.
\nThe call, made in a letter, is a rare challenge to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has dominated Congress since India won independence in 1947 from colonial ruler Britain.
\nBut, in recent years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has dealt the Congress party heavy electoral defeats.
\nItalian-born Sonia Gandhi, the widow of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, asked the party to relieve her of her role as interim president in a speech to a virtual meeting of the Congress Working Committee – the highest decision-making body, ANI reported.
\n\u201cSonia Gandhi asks CWC members \u2018to begin deliberations towards the process of transition to relieve her from the duty of party president\u2019,\u201d ANI said on Twitter, citing unidentified sources.
\nTwo party sources said the signatories to the letter expect the Gandhi family to either play a proactive role or step down, adding that more than 300 regional Congress politicians also supported the letter.
\nBut several figures in the party, including the chief ministers of Congress-led states, have publicly backed her continuing in the role.
\n\u201cNews of 23 senior most Congress leaders writing (a) letter… is unbelievable and if it is true – it\u2019s very unfortunate,\u201d Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said in a tweet, calling for Sonia Gandhi to stay on.
\nManmohan Singh, who served as prime minister between 2004-2014, also threw his weight behind Gandhi, who took over de facto leadership of the party last year from her son Rahul.
\nRahul\u2019s father Rajiv, grandmother and great-grandfather have served as India\u2019s prime ministers.
\nIn the capital, New Delhi, Gandhi family supporters held placards and shouted slogans outside party headquarters. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TLTP NEW DELHI The leader of India\u2019s main opposition Congress party offered to resign on Monday, local media reported, after almost two dozen top leaders called for better decision-making in the party, which has ruled for much of the country\u2019s independent history. The call, made in a letter, is a rare challenge to the Nehru-Gandhi […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140717,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-140692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n