LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu on Tuesday resigned from his post after taking moral responsibility for the party's humiliating defeat in the state assembly polls.
The move comes after Congress president Sonia Gandhi asked the chiefs of its Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur units to resign amid continued rumblings in the party following its abject loss in the assembly elections in these states.
"I Ajay Kumar Lallu, President, Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee want to apprise that the assembly elections have been held in the state in the last few days and all UPCC office bearers worked hard with devotion and took the organisation at village level. We fought against the wrong policies of the government from time to time," Lallu said in a letter to Sonia Gandhi.
"But we had to face unexpected defeat in this election. Taking moral responsibility for this defeat, I am resigning from the responsibility of the president post," he said.
Lallu, who lost from Tamkuhi Raj seat, said he will work with full devotion for the party.
"Trusting a common worker like me, you all made me the President of Uttar Pradesh Congress, for this I will be grateful throughout my life, I will always work with full devotion for the party," the letter stated.
Earlier in the day, the Congress held a meeting in Delhi to review its poor performance in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, identify shortcomings and chalk out future plans for the politically-crucial state.
AICC general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra chaired the meeting which was attended by the party's top state leaders.
The meeting came two days after Vadra presented her report regarding the party's drubbing in the polls at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee chaired by Sonia Gandhi. The Congress had won only two out of 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh, and got a vote share of 2.33 per cent.