New Delhi: The Congress' Delhi unit passed a "unanimous" resolution on Sunday evening asking party leader and Wayanad lawmaker Rahul Gandhi to return as party chief "with immediate effect".
The resolution which is expected to trigger a series of similar declarations by other state units, comes days after the party said organisational polls would be held in June - after Assembly elections in several key states, including Bengal and Tamil Nadu. That announcement came after a turbulent meeting of the CWC (Congress Working Committee).
Delhi unit chief Anil Kumar said in the resolution that the Congress party needs a dynamic and powerful leader like Gandhi at the helm citing the disturbed and dangerous political situation in the country.
At the meeting, senior leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Mukul Wasnik and P Chidambaram - among those who have raised uncomfortable questions over party leadership and management - asked for immediate organisational polls.
Against them were the so-called Gandhi loyalists - Chief Ministers Ashok Gehlot and Amarinder Singh, and AK Antony, Tariq Anwar and Oommen Chandy - who said it should be held after state polls.
The argument reportedly prompted Mr Gandhi to declare: "Once and for all, finish it and move on."
Gandhi had resigned as the Congress president in 2019 after the party suffered a humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections and despite several similar calls to return as the chief, he has been adamant about returning since.
The unit also passed two more resolutions seeking the resignations of Union home minister Amit Shah and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for their failures.
The resolution also alleged that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government passed the three contentious farm laws with ulterior motives and without any discussion with stakeholders — the farmers' unions and the opposition.
Over the past months, senior Congress leaders have called for introspection over continued poor performances in elections, and for "full time" and visible" leadership to take the party forward. In August last year, 23 top leaders wrote to Mrs Gandhi, triggering a row that split the party down the middle.