I am no longer Congress president: Rahul Gandhi

Indian politician Rahul Gandhi has said he is no longer Congress president and the party's working committee should meet immediately to decide on his successor.

"Party [Congress] should decide on the new president quickly without further delay. I am nowhere in this process. I have already submitted my resignation and I am no longer the party president," Rahul Gandhi told reporters in the Parliament on Wednesday, reports India Today.

"It is an honour for me to serve the Congress party, whose values and ideals have served as the lifeblood of our beautiful nation. I owe the country and my organisation a debt of tremendous gratitude and love," Rahul Gandhi wrote on twitter, while sharing his resignation letter.

Rahul Gandhi has also changed his Twitter bio.

Speculations are rife that senior most Congress leader Motilal Vora will be the interim Congress president but while speaking to India Today TV, the nonagenarian leader said that he was not aware about the development.

Traditionally, in the absence of party president, Congress is led by senior most leader until a chief is appointed.

Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi had asked the party to hold elections to appoint the next chief quickly and without any delay.

Speaking on the delay in the selection of the new Congress chief, Rahul Gandhi said he was not involved in the process as he had already resigned and added that the party should decide on the new chief without further delay.

Amid a leadership crisis in the Congress following the Lok Sabha election disaster, Rahul Gandhi said CWC should convene a meeting at the earliest to decide. He added that the next chief should not be from the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Rahul Gandhi had offered to quit as the party chief during the May 25 meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), which was called to analyse the party's poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls, in which it managed to win just 52 seats.

The CWC had unanimously rejected his offer to quit but Rahul Gandhi has been apparently firm on his stand.

Despite senior members making several attempts to convince Rahul Gandhi to rethink his decision, he has remained unfazed.

Earlier, chief ministers of the Congress-ruled states had also urged Rahul Gandhi to reconsider his decision.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath tried to convince Rahul Gandhi, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi hijacked the agenda from the core.

Rahul Gandhi, however, told the chief ministers that Congress lost in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh -- three states where the party was expecting good results.

When all the chief ministers tried to pursue him, Rahul Gandhi told them that he is not in a position to reconsider his decision.