Rahul Gandhi resigns: India’s opposition leader quits after disastrous general election

In resignation letter, Gandhi accuses PM Narendra Modi of rigging 2019 election by undermining state institutions

Mr Gandhi said it had been 'an honour for me to serve the Congress Party' (EPA)

Rahul Gandhi has resigned as the leader of India's main opposition party, saying he took responsibility for a disastrous general election performance that saw Narendra Modi sweep to victory for a second term.

Mr Gandhi had offered to resign as president of the Congress party the day after the result was announced on 23 May, but party officials had hoped to convince him to stay.

Congress won just 52 parliamentary seats in the election to the BJP's 303. The only performance worse than that in Congress's history since independence was in 2014, when it took 44 seats and Mr Gandhi was again the face of the party.

In an open letter, Mr Gandhi said it had been "an honour for me to serve the Congress Party, whose values and ideals have served as the lifeblood of our beautiful nation".

By contrast, he accused Mr Modi's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of launching an "attack on our country and our cherished constitution", saying: "I have no hatred or anger towards the BJP but every living cell in my body instictively resists their idea of India."

And Mr Gandhi suggested the vote had not been "a free and fair election", saying the BJP had undermined the Indian press, judiciary and election commission. "We didn't fight a political party in the 2019 election. Rather, we fought the entire machinery of the Indian state," he said.

Mr Gandhi was the latest scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty to lead Congress - a fact that was used by opponents as a criticism of the party during the 2019 campaign. His father, grandmother and great-grandfather all served as prime ministers of India.

The next leader of the party will be tasked with rebuilding a network of grassroots support that, as things stand, seems light-years away from ever competing with the ruthless election-winning machinery of the BJP.

If Congress wants to keep it in the family, Mr Gandhi's sister Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra is a popular figure who entered active politics at the start of the year. But going down that route will open up the party to continued digs like the one delivered in Mr Modi's first parliamentary address of his second term, in which he said Congress "never recognised anybody outside the [Nehru-Gandhi] family".

Mr Gandhi said some colleagues had suggested he appoint a successor. "While it is important for someone new to lead our party, it would not be correct for me to select that person," he said, adding that he had empowered a group within the Congress Working Committee "with the task of beginning the search for a new President".