Earlier this evening, NDTV reported that Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi would be tendering their resignations at Congress meet that is scheduled to take place tomorrow. “Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to offer resignation at Congress meet tomorrow: Sources,” said a tweet posted by the official Twitter account of NDTV.
The tweet came in light of the disastrous poll performance by the Congress party in 5 states, including Uttar Pradesh, where the party managed to win a paltry 2 seats out of the total 403 Vidhan Sabha seats.
However, soon after NDTV reported the imminent resignation of the Gandhi family from the Congress, party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala issued a clarification, calling the news of resignation by the Gandhi family members fake. Slamming NDTV and accusing it of carrying unsubstantiated propaganda at the behest of the BJP, Surjewala tweeted: “The news story of alleged resignations being carried on NDTV based on unnamed sources is completely unfair, mischievous, and incorrect. It is unfair for a TV channel to carry such unsubstantiated propaganda stories emanating from imaginary sources at the instance of ruling BJP.”
The news story of alleged resignations being carried on NDTV based on unnamed sources is completely unfair, mischievous and incorrect.
— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) March 12, 2022
It is unfair for a TV channel to carry such unsubstantiated propaganda stories emanating from imaginary sources at the instance of ruling BJP.
After being called out for peddling fake news, NDTV issued a clarification, stating that Congress has denied Gandhis offering resignation at the meet tomorrow.
Decimation of Congress in recent assembly elections
The Congress party’s performance in the recent assembly elections has been disastrous. In Uttar Pradesh, it has managed to win just 2 seats. Having taken charge of a drowning Congress in Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has firmly sunk the party. Congress’ family bastions Amethi and Rae Bareli, where the party had some hope of attracting votes in the name of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, have also completely slipped out of the Gandhi family’s hands under her leadership. The party drew a big fat zero in both Amethi and Rae Bareli in the 2022 UP Assembly elections.
Likewise in other states, Congress has lost Punjab where it was in power for the last term. In the 117-seat assembly, Congress has got just 18. Congress has also lost in Manipur, a 60-seat assembly, where it has been reduced from 23 to 5. In Goa, Congress has secured 12 seats out of 40, while in Uttarakhand, it got 19 out of 70 seats.
However, this is not the first time when the Gandhis of the grand old party are offering their resignations. In fact, they usually offer resignations to themselves as the key positions are held by Gandhis only. After the recent defeat, the discontent among leaders and workers was reflected in the response of Congress senior leader and MP Shashi Tharoor, also a member of the G-23, a group of dissident Congress leaders who have been advocating a tectonic shift in the leadership for the last two years.
