The Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) met at Parliament Annexe this morning. The meeting was presided over by United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi and attended by all Congress MPs, including party president Rahul Gandhi.

Catch the highlights here:

4:25 pm IST Dalit activists hold dharna, urging Rahul continue as Congress chief Members of various Dalit organisations in the national capital on Saturday organised a dharna, urging Rahul Gandhi to continue as the president of the Congress party, reported news agency ANI. Urging Gandhi not to resign, former Congress MLA Jai Kishan said: “Rahul might be correct in deciding to resign, but for the millions of people who have placed their faith in him and the party, it is not justifiable. He shouldn’t let us down by resigning from his post.” “He is not the only one who should be held accountable for the party’s performance in the elections. All the party workers should take moral responsibility and work hard to strengthen the party” ,he said.





02:02 pm IST Rahul Gandhi is the president of Congress, Surjewala clarifies “Rahul Gandhi remains the president of the Congress, there is no doubt about it” ,Randeep Singh Surjewala said.





02:00 pm IST ‘Everything but one’s right to bread and butter can wait’: Surjewala “The youth of the nation is saying, everything else can wait, but our right to bread and butter cannot” ,Randeep Singh Surjewala said.





01:55 pm IST ‘Govt did nothing to prevent US withdrawal of special status to India’: Randeep Singh Surjewala “The withdrawal of the special trade status to India was announced on March 4, 2019. Yet, the government did nothing to prevent it. Sectors like agriculture and pharmaceutical will get affected significantly. The government should suggest a way forward, a way to recover from the economic crisis we are in” ,Randeep Singh Surjewala said.





01:50 pm IST ‘US withdrawal of special trade status a double whammy’: Randeep Singh Surjewala “Withdrawal by US of the special trade status is a double whammy. India has decided to yield to the pressure of the US and stop purchasing crude oil from Iran. Now our special trade status with the US is gone” ,Randeep Singh Surjewala said.





01:40 pm IST AICC press briefing by Randeep Singh Surjewala begins at Cong HQ AICC press briefing by Randeep Singh Surjewala has begun at the Congress headquarters.





12:33 pm IST Rajnath Singh takes charge as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh took charge as the Defence Minister. Union minister Shripad Yesso Naik was also present on the occasion. :ANI





12:20 pm IST Amit Shah takes charge as Union Home Minister Amit Shah took charge as the Union Home Minister. G Kishan Reddy and Nityanand Rai were also present on the occasion. :ANI





12:07 am IST ‘Defeat in an election will not affect our ideology’: Sonia Gandhi “We will remain firm on our ideals. Defeat in an election will not affect our ideology,” said Sonia Gandhi.





12:00 pm IST Rahul Gandhi congratulates Sonia Gandhi on Twitter “Congratulations to Smt Sonia Gandhi on being elected Leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party. Under her leadership, the Congress will prove to be a strong and effective opposition party, that will fight to defend the Constitution of India,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted.





11:54 am IST Need for introspection in the party, says Rahul Gandhi Congress president Rahul Gandhi said there was need for introspection in the party.





11:42 am IST ‘Will fight govt till our last breath if it works against us’: Sonia Gandhi We will support the constructive work of this government, but if it works against us, we will fight it till our last breath,said Sonia Gandhi at the meeting.





11:32 am IST Sonia Gandhi leaves the venue after CPP meet concludes Sonia Gandhi has also left the venue after the conclusion of CPP meeting. :ANI





11:23 am IST CPP meeting concludes, Rahul Gandhi leaves the venue The CPP meeting has concluded and Congress President Rahul Gandhi has left the venue. :ANI





11:13 am IST Rahul Gandhi thanks voters and Congress workers Rahul Gandhi thanked the voters and Congress workers. “Every Congress member must remember that each one of you is fighting for the Constitution, for every person in India irrespective of the color of his skin or belief” ,he said.





11:08 am IST Rahul Gandhi did not meet Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot after resigning Rahul Gandhi did not meet Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot who were at his 12, Tughlaq Lane residence for a meeting with his sister and Congress general secretary for east Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.





11:02 am IST Rahul Gandhi had brief interaction with party leaders after quitting Since the CWC meeting on May 25, Rahul Gandhi has had just a few brief interactions with party colleagues. He only met senior leaders Ahmed Patel and KC Venugopal and attended a prayer function in memory of his great grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru, to mark his 55th death anniversary. On Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi held brief but separate discussions with Venugopal and party’s chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.





11:00 am IST Sonia Gandhi elected as the leader of CPP Sonia Gandhi has been elected as the leader of Congress Parliamentary Party during the CPP meeting. Smt. Sonia Gandhi is elected as leader of Congress Parliamentary Party. She thanks the voters & workers for their faith in the party. — Congress (@INCIndia) June 1, 2019





10:47 am IST Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi arrive for CPP meeting Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi arrive for Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) meeting. pic.twitter.com/sGf7d5l0Pr — ANI (@ANI) June 1, 2019





10:42 am IST Sonia Gandhi had also resigned from the post in 1999 On May 15, 1999, just before the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress had faced a similar situation. The then Congress president Sonia Gandhi resigned from the post after senior leaders Sharad Pawar, PA Sangma and Tariq Anwar opposed her being projected as the party’s prime ministerial candidate, ostensibly on the grounds of her foreign origin.





10:36 am IST Rahul Gandhi leaves for Congress Parliamentary Party meeting Congress President Rahul Gandhi leaves for Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) meeting. :ANI





10:31 am IST Congress constitution says AICC has to ratify all CWC resolutions As per the Congress constitution, all CWC resolutions have to be ratified by the AICC.





10:25 am IST Leaders likely to discuss if an AICC session should be called According to a senior leader who asked not to be named, one of the suggestions to discuss the matter further involves calling a session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) to give an opportunity to Rahul Gandhi to interact directly with 2,000-odd delegates from across the country.





10:15 am IST First meet after Rahul Gandhi announced his decision to quit The meeting would be the first interaction between Rahul Gandhi and party leaders since the fractious Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on May 25 when he announced his decision to quit before it was rejected by the party’s highest decision-making body.





10:05 am IST CPP may also elect a new chairperson in the meeting There are speculations that the CPP may also elect a new chairperson, a post currently held by Sonia Gandhi.





09:50 am IST Cong workers urging Rahul Gandhi not to quit post of president Congress workers in several cities across the country have been holding demonstrations, urging him to rethink his decision to quit following reverses in the Lok Sabha elections.





09:45 am IST CPP meet to be attended by all Cong MPs, including Rahul Gandhi The meeting,which is scheduled to begin at 10:30 am, is going to be attended by all Congress MPs, including party president Rahul Gandhi.





09:40 am IST Rahul Gandhi’s leadership to be focus of Congress meet The focus of the CPP meeting, which is to be presided by United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, will be Rahul Gandhi’s leadership.



