Jyotiraditya Scindia tenders resignation from the post of Congress General Secretary

July 7: Rahul Gandhi’s close aide, Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned from the post of Congress General Secretary hours after the party’s Mumbai chief, Milind Deora, stepped down from his post. His tweet announcing the resignation came following a meeting with Rahul Gandhi, who has also quit as the Congress chief.

“Accepting the people’s verdict and taking accountability, I had submitted my resignation as General Secretary of AICC (All India Congress Committee) to Shri Rahul Gandhi,” Mr Scindia tweeted. “I thank him for entrusting me with this responsibility and for giving me the opportunity to serve our party,” he added. Scindia, 42, later clarified that he met Gandhi about 10 days ago and submitted his resignation.

Scindia and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were appointed general secretaries incharge of western and eastern Uttar Pradesh, respectively, on January 23 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress, however, could win only one seat, with BJP winning 62 out of 80 seats in the state. In an embarrassment to the Congress, Mr Gandhi also lost from his family stronghold Amethi. Overall, the Congress won only 52 of 543 Lok Sabha seats. Mr Scindia, a four-time parliamentarian from Guna in Madhya Pradesh, also lost his time-tested constituency to BJP’s Dr KP Yadav.