New Delhi, May 25: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday offered to resign from his post as party chief. The proposal was put forth by him at the Congress' Working Committee (CWC) meeting held today to introspect and assess the reasons behind the humiliating defeat in Lok Sabha elections 2019.

Reports citing CWC office-bearers claimed that the Working Committee has overwhelmingly turned down his proposal to quit as the party president. On the contrary, the Congress old guard as well as the new faces asked him to continue to lead the party in such testing times, they said. Randeep Surjewala Refutes Reports of Rahul Gandhi Offering to Resign

Among those who asked Gandhi to continue to remain the party chief includes former prime minister Manmohan Singh, as per reports. "The resignation is not necessitated," Singh was reported as saying by TV news channels.

Update by ANI:

In the Lok Sabha elections 2019, the Congress faced yet another rout after 2014. While its tally marginally improved from 44 to 51 seats, it was largely due to spring of victories in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Overall, the party has drew a blank in 18 states of India, and failed to cross the double-digits only in Kerala.

The biggest embarrassment for the Congress came from Uttar Pradesh, where Gandhi himself lost from his home constituency of Amethi.

The Priyanka Gandhi Vadra factor turned into a flop show as the Congress was reduced to only 1 seat, held by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and lost deposit in 63 out of the 67 constituencies contested in the state. Raj Babbar Sends Resignation to Rahul Gandhi Following Congress's Dismal Performance in UP

The CWC meeting was attended by Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Priyanka Gandhi and chief ministers of four party-ruled states -- Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh -- and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

Senior AICC members including AK Antony, Ahmed Patel, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sheila Dikshit, Mallikarjun kharge, Ambika Soni, Anand Sharma and Jyotiraditya Scindia were also present.

The meeting was called to explore the reasons behind the party's debacle and to analyse why its poll narrative failed to strike a chord with the electorate.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 25, 2019 12:40 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).