Rahul Gandhi resignation: Who said what

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"Rahul Gandhi is and will remain, my leader, our leader & will continue to provide solid strength for the Congress," said Ahmed Patel.

Rahul Gandhi, who resigned from his post of Congress chief, will head to the United States in two days, party sources have told India Today TV. He will be accompanied by UPA chairperson and his mother Sonia Gandhi.

According to sources, they are going to the US for a follow up for Sonia Gandhi's health check-up.

JD(S) President and ex-PM HD Deve Gowda has responded to Rahul Gandhi's resignation.

"Rahul Gandhi toured the entire country and struggled to strengthen the organisation. He has done his best. He has taken moral responsibility. I requested but he has taken a moral stand for defeat but he's not going to retire, he's going to work for the party," said Deve Gowda.

Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh said that it was a difficult time for Congress.

It is a difficult time for the party, but together, we will get through it, to come out stronger and bigger, with Rahul’s vision continuing to guide us, he added.

Expressing disappointment over Rahul Gandhi’s resignation as Congress president, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder said, "Rahul should have continued to lead the party with the same dynamism and fighting spirit with which he had steered the election campaign."

"One electoral defeat cannot define Rahul Gandhi's leadership abilities. It was not fair for Rahul to hold himself accountable for a collective defeat," he added.

The Shiv Sena has expressed the hope the resignation of Rahul Gandhi as Congress president will pave the way for restructuring of the main opposition party and herald a new era in the 133-year-old organisation.

Shiv Sena spokesman and MP Sanjay Raut said with the resignation, the Congress has become "Gandhi family-free" under the tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "The Modi storm has uprooted Rahul Gandhi. It is during Modi's tenure that the Congress has become "Gandhi family-mukt". "The Congress still has strong roots and should use this opportunity to restructure itself," he said.

Raut said Rahul Gandhi's resignation will herald an era where the Congress will be free from the domination of the Gandhi family and this development will be noted in history. "There was criticism that the Congress is dominated by one family and many voters were turning their back on the party. This development will be crucial," said Raut, whose party is a key ally of the BJP.

"Rahul Gandhi continues to be Congress President till the time Congress Working Committee accepts his resignation. Reports of Motilal Vora as Interim Congress President are incorrect," says senior Congress source.

Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi Wednesday termed Rahul Gandhi's announcement of his resignation as Congress president on Twitter as a "brand new drama of the grand old party" while several of his BJP colleagues chose the occasion to highlight the difference between the two parties.

Karnataka Congress leader DK Shivakumar said, "It is a great loss if Rahul Gandhi decides to step down. Without the Gandhi family, Congress will break. I am of the firm opinion that the Gandhi family unites Congress. And Congress unites India."

Former Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken said even after his resignation, Gandhi would remain the voice of the party's workers.

"We are proud to have @RahulGandhi Ji as our leader! Congress President or not, he would always be the voice of millions of Congress workers and those who believe in its ideology! Rahul ji has taken a right decision-and we support him," he said in a tweet.

Gorakhpur BJP MP Ravi Kishan voiced support for Rahul Gandhi's decision to step down.

He said, "It is a wise decision and maybe he wants to introspect the reasons behind the defeat of Congress party. It is his own decision and everyone is free to decide what is best suited for him."

National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah said, "Mubarak Ho that he stood by his decision. He's young and he can become president again in the future. He had always wanted someone else in that position, I can't say that defeat did this. I think he'll now work towards building the party."

Senior Congress leader Motilal Vora, who is likely to be the interim party president after Rahul Gandhi's resignation, has requested him to reconsider. Speaking to India Today TV, Motilal Vohra said that Rahul Gandhi had mentioned his intention to resign during the Congress Working Committee meet on May 25, but the committee had rejected it unanimously and had reposed faith in his leadership. "Since taking over the reins of the party in 2017, Rahul Gandhi has left no stone unturned to make the party stronger. Under his aegis, the party won three state assembly elections. He worked hard during the Lok Sabha elections, went wherever he was asked to," Motilal Vora said. The leader said that no one in the party had talked to him about the interim chief post. "Ashok Gehlot's name was being discussed," he said.

Unlike the Congress, the organisational structure is already in place in the BJP, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said Wednesday soon after Rahul Gandhi formally resigned as Congress president.

"In BJP, the (organisational) election and membership timetable is ready. Work has also started. We also have a working president. If nothing is happening in the other party, what can I do," Prakash Javadekar said after a briefing of the Cabinet when asked about Gandhi's resignation.

BJP leader Nalin Kohli has also responded to Rahul Gandhi's resignation as Congress president.

Nalin Kohli said, "It is upto him whether he continues or resigns. There are 2 types of parties, one like the BJP which is run by democracy and on the other hand you have family drive parties like the Congress. So, it is for them to decide, we have no role."

BJP MP Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said, he respects the decision taken by Rahul Gandhi but the logic for his resignation is wrong and factually incorrect.

Rathore said, "Congress lost after people of this country voted for PM Modi because they were not ready to accept the dynastic and corrupt politics of Congress."

Salman Khurshid has responded to Rahul Gandhi's resignation.

"Rahul Gandhi left the office of party president but he doesn't cease to be our leader. Sonia Gandhi isn't president anymore but she remains our leader. By way of natural standing, they'll continue to have admiration, affection, the confidence of party workers in them" said Khurshid.