Gujarat Pradesh Congress President Shaktisinh Gohil on Monday quit from his position, taking moral responsibility for the party's dismal performance in the just-concluded bypolls to the Kadi and Visavadar assembly constituencies.
Gohil, who is a member of the upper house of parliament, informed journalists in Ahmedabad that he had resigned as a letter to Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge after the results were much less than what was expected.
"As the bypoll results were not as expected, I have taken the moral responsibility for the defeat of my party and have resigned as the president of Gujarat Congress," he said at a press conference.
The Congress had a poor performance in both the constituencies. Gopal Italia of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won in Visavadar defeating his closest contender, BJP's Kirit Patel, by 17,554 votes. Italia is a former AAP Gujarat state president.
In Mehsana district's Kadi constituency, which was reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates, BJP candidate Rajendra Chavda won comprehensively.
He trounced Congress' Ramesh Chavda by 39,452 votes after all 22 rounds of counting were completed. Rajendra Chavda polled 99,742 votes, and his Congress counterpart could muster only 60,290.
Gohil was appointed president of Gujarat Congress in June 2023, on the eve of the 2024 general elections.
His resignation is another blow to the party in a state where it has been finding it difficult to make political headway in the wake of aggressive challenges from both the BJP and the rising AAP presence.
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