TO STAY OR NOT

WHEN AJAY Maken announced he was resigning as Delhi Congress chief following the MCD poll rout, many Congressmen laughed it off. State Congress presidents and AICC general secretaries in-charge of states routinely resign after electoral defeats, and are invariably asked to continue. Sanjay Nirupam and Raj Babbar had announced their resignations after the Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh setbacks, so did AICC general secretary B K Hariprasad after the Odisha civil poll defeat. All of them were asked to continue. However, Maken and AICC in-charge P C Chacko are sticking to their resignations as of now. They conveyed their decision to Rahul Gandhi during a meeting on Thursday. They also raised the issue of infighting in the party, saying they wanted to avoid these conflicts. Rahul told them to continue, saying the party’s performance was creditable since its vote share had jumped from 9 per cent to 21 per cent. The issue unresolved, Chacko and Maken will meet Rahul again on Monday.