DMK chief MK Stalin, whose party led the UPA alliance including Congress in Tamil Nadu, on Tuesday batted for the continuance of Rahul Gandhi as the Congress president.
Stalin, who had a telephonic conversation with Rahul, requested him not to step down from the post.
Rahul congratulated Stalin for the stellar performance of DMK-Congress alliance in the Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu. Sonia Gandhi also congratulated the DMK chief.
Stalin, whose leadership was on test in this first major elections after his father and party patriarch M Karundhi's death last year, vindicated himself by winning 37 out of 38 parliamentary seats that went to polls in the state.
The DMK-led alliance includes Congress, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Communist Party of India (CPI) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) along with several other smaller parties.
Rahul had offered to step down from his party post at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting held on Saturday, taking moral responsibility for Congress' dismal performance in the Lok Sabha elections.
However, his resignation offer was unmously rejected by the CWC.
Congress leader M Veerappa Moily also requested Rahul to continue in the post, saying his leadership revived the party in the last five year.
Taking to Twitter, Moily, a former Karnataka chief minister, wrote, "In 2014, when everyone wrote off the INC, it was Rahul Gandhi who fought back and made INC relevant again. In 2019, he took on the right issues and cornered the BJP. He should continue to be INC president. We cannot afford not to have him in that position."
In another tweet, Moily said, "Reviving a party is a 5-year process, it takes a leader like him to think long term and bring INC to its rightful position to serve the people of India. It's not the question of finding a person outside the family. INC itself is one big family and he belongs to that family."
( With inputs from ANI )