The decision of Rahul Gandhi to quit as the All India Congress Committee president is hard to accept for several leaders and cadre, said Congress MP Manicka Thakur here on Sunday.

Speaking to reporters at the inaugural function of the party office here, he said Mr. Gandhi may justify his resignation, but imagining some other leader as the president of the Congress was unacceptable. “The Gandhi family have done much for the party and the nation that they should continue to be at the helm of affairs,” he opined.

“As a party functionary, I will always have Mr. Rahul as the president,” he stressed.

When scribes asked for his comment on the demand for the release of seven convicts figuring in the Rajiv assassin case, he said that the Congress would wholeheartedly accept the decisions taken by the Centre and State governments in this regard. “We have nothing against their release,” he clarified and recalled that it was the then AICC president Sonia Gandhi, who had written to the then President to reduce the punishment to Nalini, a convict in the case, languishing in prison.

Speaking for the fireworks units, Mr. Thakur said that he would take up the issue in the Parliament and also impress upon the Minister concerned. “I am fully aware of the problems faced by the industry and lakhs of workers. I will earnestly take it up and see a solution soon,” he assured.

While criticising the Union budget, the Congress MP said that it had no relevance to the current situation. When every sector, particularly agriculture, was facing hardship there was no tangible relief or sops in the budget. It seemed to satisfy the ideals of the RSS and BJP leaders, he slammed.