Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, who lost the Lok Sabha election from Gurdaspur to BJP candidate Sunny Deol, on Monday, sent his resignation from the post to party president Rahul Gandhi.
The decision came after he took moral responsibility for losing his seat and party’s not so outstanding performance in Punjab.
Jakhar in his letter said that he was unable to defend his seat despite the best support by the Congress President, General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi and Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.
“Everyone supported me fully and put in their best for me, but I was unable to defend my seat. In such a scenario I cannot continue as state chief. I feet a moral responsibility to quit,” said Jakhar.
Jakhar was elected in the 2017 bypolls held after the death of BJP lawmaker Vinod Khanna.
The state unit presidents of the Congress in Odisha, Assam, and Madhya Pradesh have submitted their resignations to Rahul Gandhi after the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha elections.
Rahul Gandhi too offered to resign from his post during the meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), but the party had refused to accept his resignation.
The Congress has won 8 of the 13 seats in Punjab. The Akali Dal and the BJP won two seats each while the Aam Adami Party (AAP) won one seat.
