"Have told CWC about my decision. There has to be accountability," Rahul Gandhi said last week.
In a first, a Congress leader said today that there is practically no chance of Rahul Gandhi rolling back his decision to quit the top job of the party and staying on. The Congress is expected to hold a Working Committee meeting soon, where a final decision on the matter is expected.
In an interview with news agency Press Trust of India, veteran Congressman Veerappa Moily said, while there is no guarantee to what might happen, "Today, I don't... (think there) may be even one per cent (possibility) of his (Rahul Gandhi's) coming back".
The Congress Working Committee "will definitely meet before they consider any other name", he said. "Unless his resignation is accepted by CWC, speculations and his assertions will go on," added the former minister in the UPA government.
The 'will he won't he' question about Mr Gandhi staying on as the party chief has been continuing amid the party's regular appeals to him to reconsider.
Mr Gandhi has so far staunchly refused. But he also has started meeting party leaders, holding meetings regarding the coming election and according to reports, even promised help to the factionalised Haryana Congress to recharge.
Last week, amid expectation about a rollback, Mr Gandhi said, "I have already told the CWC about my decision. There has to be accountability".
Earlier, Shashi Tharoor had told NDTV that Rahul Gandhi was taking defeat in the national election personally and reacting to it.
But the issues facing the party are "too important to be reduced to a question of an individual" and "it is unfair to Rahul Gandhi and to the Congress party," he had said.