217: Is Rahul Gandhi Resigning to Make the Old Cong Guard Quit?

Rahul Gandhi has been trying to resign for a while now and he officially resigned from the post of Congress president on 3 July after a stint of roughly 1 and a half years - taking responsibility for the party’s humiliating defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Rahul’s resignation comes as big news quite obviously - we just finished with the election, the BJP looks strong, the opposition weaker than ever and on top of that Rahul Gandhi who had made his stand as a leader in the last couple of years resigned. He was elected as the party president unanimously and but quitting didn't come easy - there were meetings after meetings and all the Congress members trying to dissuade him, around 130 office bearers in Congress even quit in solidarity, but Rahul wouldn't budge. In a letter that he posted on Twitter he wrote, “As President of the Congress Party, I am responsible for the loss of the 2019 election. Accountability is critical for the future growth of our party. It is for this reason that I have resigned as Congress president.” In this podcast we take look at his career as the reluctant politician to the Congress chief, the ups and downs that the party had under Rahul’s tenure, who the potential candidates are for this vacant position in the Congress and the kind of reactions this resignation has gotten. Tune in!