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Updated: May 29, 2020 09:42 IST

Congress president Rahul Gandhi took a sharp dig at his party colleagues for the party’s rout in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, saying he at times stood completely alone in the fight against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS).

“I personally fought the Prime Minister, the RSS and the institutions they have captured with all my being. I fought because I love India. And I fought to defend the ideals India was built upon. At times, I stood completely alone and am extremely proud of it,” he wrote in his four-page farewell note.

“I have learned so much from the spirit and dedication of our workers and party members, men and women who have taught me about love and decency,” Gandhi added.

Upset over the party’s dismal performance in the general elections managing to win just 52 seats compared to 303 seats for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Gandhi had offered to resign at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on May 25.

He had also asked the CWC to appoint a new chief but the party’s highest decision making body rejected the offer and passed a resolution, authorising him to revamp the organisation.

It was in that fractious CWC meeting that Gandhi slammed the veterans for “placing the interests” of their sons above the party.

Gandhi also mentioned that some leaders had even lost the election from their strongholds even as he criticised a section of the GenNext for hankering for posts.

After May 25, Gandhi had limited interactions with party colleagues and in all his meetings remained adamant on stepping down.

Even party’s five chief ministers Captain Amarinder Singh (Punjab), Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan), Kamal Nath (Madhya Pradesh), Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh) and V Narayanasamy (Puducherry) failed to persuade Gandhi to reconsider his decision during their nearly two-hour-long meeting on Monday.

Several Congress functionaries too submitted their resignations to put pressure on him to change his mind but Rahul Gandhi remained firm.