Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar resigns after defeat

Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar has resigned on Monday after he lost the Gurdaspur seat to Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol.

In his resignation letter, Jakhar took moral responsibility for losing his seat and also party's poor performance in the state.

Jakhar said that he was unable to retain his seat despite the support from the Congress President, General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi and Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

Earlier today, the president of Assam unit of the Congress party, Ripun Bora, also submitted his resignation to party president Rahul Gandhi.

Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar, party's Odisha unit chief Niranjan Patnaik and Karnataka state unit president HK Patil have already sent their resignations to Gandhi. 

Watch: Rahul adamant on resignation, wants a non-Gandhi as next Congress president

Delhi Congress president Shiela Dikshit has also sent her resignation to the party chief.

The Congress is going through a crisis after its humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, where the voters gave a decisive mandate to BJP-led NDA to govern the country for the next five years. 

Rahul Gandhi has himself offered to resign as party president, though the proposal was rejected during the party's working committee meeting.

(With inputs from agencies)