As Congress president Rahul Gandhi remains adamant on his decision to quit after the party’s debacle in Lok Sabha elections, workers have started holding sit-ins and observing fasts to urge the leader not to step down.

Congress legislature party leader Ajay Kumar Lallu on Wednesday led a ‘samuhik upvas’ (community fast) in Sevarahi town of Kushinagar on Wednesday.

“We want Rahul Gandhi to continue as Congress president. He has been fighting for the cause of the youth and farmers. He is a strong leader and we are with him in his fight to bring the Congress back to power,” said Lallu after the day-long fast.

At the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) headquarters in Lucknow, party workers extended their support to spokesman Pradeep Singh who began a sit-in on Tuesday with the demand that Gandhi continues on the post.

“We want your leadership, not your resignation,” said Singh, who insisted that he would continue with the sit-in till Gandhi changed his mind.

UPCC president Raj Babbar, who himself has offered to step down owning moral responsibility for the poor performance of the party in Lok Sabha elections, convened a meeting of partymen to discuss future course of action.

UPCC is likely to adopt a resolution demanding Gandhi’s continuation on the post.

“Congress workers across the state are urging Gandhi to review his decision. We will discuss the issue and a resolution in this connection may be passed,” said a senior party leader.

The Congress’s performance in Uttar Pradesh has gone from bad to worse with the party’s vote share coming down to 6.31 per cent from 7.53 per cent in 2014.

The party could win only in Rae Bareli from where UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had contested the election. Rahul Gandhi himself lost Amethi by a margin of about 50,000 votes to BJP’s Smriti Irani.

Babbar also lost in Fatehpur Sikri by a margin of about 4.91 lakh votes.

First Published: May 30, 2019 13:30 IST