The Congress on Monday urged the media not to resort to speculation or gossip amid leaks about the proceedings at a working committee meeting on Saturday and reports of Rahul Gandhi resigning as party president.

Party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala asked the media to respect the sanctity of the closed-door meeting of the Congress Working Committee that took place on Saturday after the party won just 52 seats in the Lok Sabha in the recently-concluded elections.

“CWC held a collective deliberation on the performance of the party, the challenges before it as also the way ahead, instead of casting aspersions on the role or conduct of any specific individual,” Surjewala said.

The party had said on Saturday that Gandhi had offered to resign after its debacle in the Lok Sabha elections, but the Congress Working Committee unanimously rejected it and requested him to continue his leadership. Reports on Monday suggested that Gandhi had refused to withdraw his resignation offer.

Some reports also claimed that during the CWC meeting, Gandhi had accused former Union minister P Chidambaram, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot of placing their sons above the party. According to reports that cited unidentified party officials, Gandhi also blamed Congress leaders for not supporting him in his campaign to show that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was guilty of corruption in the Rafale deal.

“Various conjectures, speculations, insinuations, assumptions, gossip and rumour mongering in a section of the media is uncalled for and unwarranted,” Surjewala said in a statement. Surjewala requested the media “to not fall into the trap of conjectures or speculations”.

Read the Congress party’s full statement here:

The Congress Working Committee is the highest decision making body of the Indian National Congress. It is a democratic forum to exchange ideas, formulate policies and take corrective action. In this realm and context, members of the CWC expressed their views in the meeting dated 25th May, 2019. The CWC looked at the reverses in the Lok Sabha elections as an opportunity for radical changes and a complete organizational overhaul, for which it authorized the Congress President, Shri Rahul Gandhi.

The Congress party expects everyone including the media to respect the sanctity of a closed door meeting of the CWC. Various conjectures, speculations, insinuations, assumptions, gossip and rumour mongering in a section of the media is uncalled for and unwarranted.

CWC held a collective deliberation on the performance of the party, the challenges before it as also the way ahead, instead of casting aspersions on the role or conduct of any specific individual. The gist of the deliberations was made public in the CWC resolution of May 25, 2019.

We would request everyone, including the media, to not fall into the trap of conjectures or speculations and await the calibrated efforts by the Congress party towards future course of action.