Congress workers to go on hunger strike urging Rahul Gandhi to not resign as party president

Congress workers in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur are set to go on a hunger strike on Saturday to urge party president Rahul Gandhi to not resign from the post.

"The local Congress unit will undertake sadbhavan anshan on June 29 at 11 am to press upon Rahul Gandhi to take back his decision to resign from the post of Congress chief," a press note by Congress committee in Kanpur said.

Meanwhile, a flurry of resignations has emerged within the Congress after Mr Gandhi said he will not reconsider resigning from his post after facing a humiliating defeat in the general elections.

As many as 145 office bearers tendered mass resignations earlier on Friday during a meeting conducted in the Congress office and set an example for the senior members of the party to follow the suit of taking the moral responsibility behind the dismal performance in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections.

Mr Gandhi, who became the party president in 2017, offered to step down from his post at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on May 25, taking moral responsibility for Congress' performance in the polls.

However, his resignation offer was unanimously rejected by the CWC.

So far, several top leaders have met Mr Gandhi and urged him to continue to lead the party.

Despite senior members making serious attempts to convince the 49-year-old party chief to rethink his decision, he remains unfazed.

The Congress won 52 seats in the recent general elections, which is just eight more than 2014 in the outgoing Lok Sabha.

-ANI