Rahul Gandhi Makes Clear He'll Go, Says "There Has To Be Accountability"

Congress's Rahul Gandhi, who decided to step down from the position of the party chief after the abysmal performance in the Lok Sabha election,  made it clear today that he is sticking to his resolve and would not be involved in the process of the selection of the new party chief.

Underscoring that there has to be "accountability in the system", he told NDTV, "I am not going to get involved in that process, otherwise it will complicate things and the party has to decide".

A dynastic control combined with a lack of accountability has been the critics' big grouse against the Congress, which became loud after the party's rout in the national election. For the second time in a row, the party got decimated, getting only 52 seats - a marginal rise over its score of 44 in the 2014 election. What accentuated the defeat was Mr Gandhi's loss from Amethi, his family turf, to the BJP's Smriti Irani.

Days after the results were declared, Rahul Gandhi took "100 per cent" responsibility for the party's failure and told the 52-member Congress Working Committee that he would like to exit as its top boss.

But the Congress refused to accept Mr Gandhi's decision and over the last weeks, has stuck to the template.

The party's senior leaders have indicated that only members of the Gandhi family can hold the Congress together. But Mr Gandhi has negated that option too, declaring that his mother or sister Priyanka Gandhi cannot be given the responsibility.

Since Independence, the Congress always had the Gandhis at the helm, except for several years after former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991. But the party did not do well under Sitaram Kesri and several leaders had convinced Sonia Gandhi to enter active politics and take the reins of the party.

Over the last weeks, there had been an attempt to get Mr Gandhi to accept the role of the party's leader in the Lok Sabha. But after he refused, the party named its senior leader from Bengal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury for the post.

Mr Gandhi, however, has assured that he would remain in the Congress and work for the party.