New Delhi, May 18 :
?Tell me which door to knock at now to seek guidance,? Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh appealed to Sonia Gandhi, requesting her to reconsider her decision to step down as party chief. He claimed the Congress was feeling ?orphaned? without her.
His political career had been shaped by the Nehru-Gandhi family, ?Diggy Raja? said, so Sonia Gandhi should tell him where to go before deciding on her next political move.
?After Rajiv Gandhi?s untimely death, we approached you to take over. When you declined and asked us to support P.V. Narasimha Rao and later, Sitaram Kesri, we did so. If you resign, please tell us where to go, whom to approach,? he said.
Digvijay today called on her along with Sheila Dixit, Ashok Gehlot and Giridhar Gamang, his counterparts from Delhi, Rajasthan and Orissa, who too have resigned to pressure Sonia Gandhi to reconsider her decision.
Demanding the expulsion of the rebels, the chief ministers issued a joint statement, saying: ?The three CWC members have attempted to lend credence to the bogus propaganda of the BJP and its allies. This is a betrayal, a shocking betrayal.?
An unmoved Sonia Gandhi, who heard the party leaders out in absolute silence, was, however, firm on not withdrawing her decision. She directed the chief ministers to return to their states and be available to the people who elected them. She has also asked party workers not to rush to Delhi.
But the barrage of resignations continued. All Congress Working Committee members, except Rajesh Pilot and the three rebels, put in their papers today.
Saying they would not be able to continue in their posts if Sonia Gandhi did not take back her resignation, all office-bearers of the All India Congress Committee also resigned today. K. Natwar Singh, the party?s foreign affairs department chairman, also put in his papers.
All ministers and Congress MLAs in Madhya Pradesh and Delhi faxed their resignations to Sonia Gandhi, while some party leaders started a fast unto death.
Several state Congress units also resigned en masse. In Uttar Pradesh, senior leader Jitendra Prasada, considered close to the rebels, resigned, saying there is no future without Sonia Gandhi.
?It is ridiculous to raise the nationality issue when Sonia Gandhi had pulled the party out from a disastrous situation,? Youth Congress general secretary Shoba Oza said. ?Where were these leaders two years ago when the party was in a bad shape?? she asked.





