Amid the slew of resignations following the massive defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress on Saturday rejected the resignation of its Punjab unit chief Sunil Jakhar. He had resigned as the Punjab Congress chief in the wake of his defeat in the General elections to BJP's Sunny Deol from Gurdaspur constituency. Congress in-charge of Punjab affairs Asha Kumari rejected Sunil Jakhar's resignation stating that he is expected to carry on the good work that he has been doing.

"You have submitted your resignation as President, Punjab PCC. Congress party does not accept your resignation and you are expected to carry on the good work as usual," a letter issued by Congress in-charge of Punjab affairs Asha Kumari said. Asha Kumar further said that Sunil Jakhar has been asked to continue as Punjab Congress chief, as per news agency PTI.

Notably, Sunil Jakhar had resigned from the post of Punjab chief, a day after the poll results were declared revealing his defeat to Sunny Deol. He had submitted his resignation to then Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. Jakhar lost the Gurdaspur seat to actor-politician Deol by a margin of 82,459 votes.

READ | Jaishankar assures help to Punjab CM, after 4 Sikh men drown in Italy

Punjab CM hails Sunil Jakhar

Earlier speaking in the matter, senior Congress leader and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had also stated that Sunil Jakhar's resignation is "totally unnecessary". Captain Singh has also advised Jakhar against quitting from Punjab Congress. He had hailed Jakhar's leadership which helped the Congress party win more seats in Punjab than any other state.

"Other state Congress presidents had quit taking responsibility for the poor performance of the party in their respective states. Under Jakhar's leadership the Punjab Congress had defied all electoral trends" Captain Amarinder Singh had said in his statement.

READ | Kartarpur corridor:Punjab CM for withdrawal of proposed service charge

Resignations in Congress

In the aftermath of poll defeat, the Congress party has been facing massive setback with an array of leaders quitting the party. Recently, actor-turned-politician politician Urmila Matondkar and former minister Kripashankar Singh put down their resignations from Maharashtra, along with former Maharashtra ministers Harshavardhan Patil and Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil who joined the BJP. In Goa, 10 Congress leaders joined the BJP earlier. Following the setback in elections, Rahul Gandhi also resigned as the Congress president taking responsibility of the defeat. Addressing the matter, interim Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Thursday also took a dig at the leaders who quit the party, saying that they have revealed "their opportunistic character". 

READ | Congress slams Amit Shah's Hindi push, warns him against imposition

READ | Congress reveals absurd reason for Rahul Gandhi's absence at AICC meet

(With PTI inputs)