In light of humiliating defeats, Sonia Gandhi fires 5 state chiefs

New Delhi: Taking the first step towards "reorganisation," Congress President Sonia Gandhi today sacked her party's leaders in the five states where the party suffered heavy defeats last week.

Eight months after taking over as Punjab Congress chief, Navjot Singh Sidhu has been asked to step down.

Randeep Surjewala, a spokesperson for the Congress, tweeted that the resignations were requested to "facilitate the reorganisation" of the state units

Congress President, Smt. Sonia Gandhi has asked the PCC Presidents of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa & Manipur to put in their resignations in order to facilitate reorganisation of PCC's.

— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) March 15, 2022

The Congress lost Punjab and the four states where it had hoped to make a comeback to Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) - and failed to manage a close contest with the BJP.

Punjab was the worst loss for the Congress; after months of infighting between Mr Sidhu, seasoned veteran Amarinder Singh, and Charanjit Singh Channi, his last-minute replacement.

The action by Sonia Gandhi follows a leadership meeting on Sunday for the Congress to discuss the recent poll drubbings.

As part of the Congress Working Committee (CWC)'s poll post-mortem, Sonia Gandhi announced that she, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would resign with her.

Mrs Gandhi presented the resignation offer as the "ultimate sacrifice in the interest of the party", according to party leaders. But it was "unanimously rejected", the leaders said.

Senior leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhary said that Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi had offered to sacrifice her post to the party along with her family members Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

After resigning as Congress president after Congress' 2019 election drubbing, Rahul Gandhi does not hold any official position in the party.

Following a four-and-a-half hour meeting, the CWC announced Sonia Gandhi would remain the party president. She was tasked with taking "effective and immediate steps" to resolve organizational problems.

Party members posted videos of all the party's former leaders on Twitter, including Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, signaling the Gandhi family would remain in charge.

Congress "dissidents" - the group of 23 leaders who wrote Sonia Gandhi in demand of major organizational changes - have criticised the Gandhis' leadership. They have openly called for sweeping changes to the party.

Kapil Sibal, former Union Minister and member of the G-23, said the Gandhis should step aside so that another candidate can lead the party.

"Leadership is in cuckoo land... I want a 'Sab ki Congress'. Some want a 'Ghar ki Congress'," Mr Sibal told the Indian Express in an interview.

Since the party lost power in 2014 and lost several more elections, those remarks have further fueled the Congress versus Congress feud.