NEW DELHI: Seen as first steps towards restructuring in the party post debacle in Lol Sabha elections, the Congress Thursday decided not to send spokespersons on television debates for a month.
"All media channels/editors are requested to not place Congress representatives on their shows," said a statement issued by the party's communications department chief RS Surjewala.
According to party sources, the communications department is expected to go through a complete revamp.
"This is part of the restructuring process and it was agreed upon that party spokespersons were either I'll informed or could put forward party's views effectively on debates in run upto the elections," said a party leader.
This came after Rahul Gandhi, who became the Congress president in 2017, offered to step down from his post at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on May 25, taking moral responsibility for the party's dismal performance in the recently concluded 17th general elections.
However, his resignation offer was unanimously rejected by the CWC.
Many more heads are expected to roll as party is preparing for massive organisational changes, including shifting many state in-charges and chiefs.
Several Pradesh Congress committee heads have already offered to resign following party's debacle.
So far, several top leaders have met Gandhi and urged him to continue to lead the party.
Sources said that despite senior members making serious attempts to convince the 48-year-old party chief to rethink his decision, he remains unfazed.
The Congress won 52 seats in the recent general elections, which is just eight more than 2014, in the outgoing Lok Sabha.
The NDA, on the other hand, registered a massive victory, winning 352 seats to retain power. The BJP alone won 303 seats - its highest tally ever.
(With Agency inputs)