Ramesh Chennithala urges Rahul Gandhi to take up Congress party's president post

Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Tuesday wrote a letter to Rahul Gandhi urging him to again take up the post of Congress president claiming that the party is suffering from an "unprecedented crisis."

"We are going through an unprecedented crisis and Madam Sonia Gandhi has been struggling, despite her health care issues, to rudder this boat through these tempestuous times. But to match the crookedness and the robustness of the BJP, we need to have your young and dynamic leadership at the helm of affairs. The nation had appreciated the highest democratic principles shown by your good self while abdicating the presidentship of congress party, taking the moral responsibility for UPA's debacle in 2014 general elections. However, its time for you to kindly reconsider your decision. The Assembly elections to Bihar and five other states are due in nine months time," the letter by Chennithala reads.

Chennithala also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his letter alleging that "a sense of hopelessness and despair" is descending across the country under his regime.

"The hallmark of Prime Minister Modi's rule has been the premeditated attempts to undermine the country's constitution, parliamentary democracy. federalism and the time tested economic structures. I am sorry to say that a sense of hopelessness and despair is descending on all secular, liberal and peace-loving citizens of this country. This should not be allowed at any cost."

"Driven by money power and blatant misuse of power, the Modi - Amit Shah combine had subverted the basic principles of democracy. This has led to falling of Congress governments in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. An attempt at Rajasthan Govemment was prevented by the swift action of your good self. This is also leading to a large number of elected representatives and party workers leaving the orgsation. This needs to be arrested at the earliest," he further stated in the letter.

Gandhi had stepped down as the president after the Congress' massive drubbing in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Later, Sonia Gandhi had then stepped in as interim president later that year.

( With inputs from ANI )