Top leaders resign as Team Rahul gets set to take charge of Congress

Resignations in the Congress have begun ahead of party President Rahul Gandhi's announcement of his new team. 

Actor-politician Raj Babbar has quit as chief of the party's UP unit; Shantaram Naik has quit as Goa Congress chief. 

News reports added that Gujarat Congress chief Bharatsinh Solanki is also believed to have tendered his resignation to the party's central leadership. The reports added that a number of further resignations are expected. 

The nudge had come from Rahul himself, with the Congress President saying recently that it was time for the old-timers to step aside. 

Naik, who quit first, said he was following Rahul's advice. 

A change of guard in the Congress has been talked about for close to forever now — ever since Rahul was anointed party vice-president in January 2013 — with people in the know saying the changeover was filling the party's old-timers with dread. 

These latest resignations, of Naik and Babbar, then are being thought of as the first in a long list to come. 

The reports however added that Babbar's resignation is also being linked the Congress' worst-ever performance in the recent UP (Gorakhpur and Phulpur) Lok Sabha bypolls which were won by the Samajwadi Party.