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NEW DELHI: Congress on Saturday rejected party president Rahul Gandhi’s offer of resignation amid dramatic scenes that saw him accept responsibility for the Lok Sabha debacle even as he lashed out at some senior leaders for putting the interests of their sons ahead of the party.The Congress Working Committee (CWC), which met here to deliberate on the defeat, saw an angry Rahul blame party veterans for pushing for tickets for their sons. His intervention came after Jyotiraditya Scindia argued that Congress needed to groom strong local leaders.Rahul pointed out that Congress had done badly in states where it was in power. He said chief ministers - Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan and Kamal Nath of Madhya Pradesh - insisted on tickets for their sons even when he was not in favour of accepting their requests. He also mentioned former Union minister P Chidambaram ’s name in this context.Appearing overwrought in the wake of the massive defeat, Rahul also accused the party leaders of not taking forward the issues that he had raised in the campaign to build a strong narrative against BJP and Narendra Modi. Sources said Rahul specifically mentioned the Rafale deal and the associated slogan “chowkidar chor hai”, asking for a show of hand by CWC members who had followed his suit.Saying that he wanted accountability in the organisation, Rahul accepted responsibility for the defeat in the elections and announced that he was quitting as the party chief. This triggered emotional scenes with senior leaders arguing that he had led from the front and there was no reason for him to be disheartened.