Rahul Gandhi's Amethi Visit On Wednesday, First After Poll Defeat

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will visit Amethi on Wednesday, his first visit after losing the parliamentary seat to union minister Smriti Irani in the recently-held national elections.

He is expected to attend a meeting of party workers in the Uttar Pradesh constituency.

The BJP leader defeated Mr Gandhi in his family stronghold by more than 52,000 votes.

Mr Gandhi had represented Amethi Lok Sabha seat since 2004, taking over from his mother Sonia Gandhi. He was elected to parliament from the second seat he contested - Wayanad in Kerala.

Conceding his defeat on the day of the results, Rahul Gandhi had congratulated Smriti Irani, saying, "I want Smriti Irani ji to keep people's faith and take care of Amethi with love."

Rahul Gandhi's visit comes amid turmoil in the Congress to choose his successor. Mr Gandhi had announced last month that he would step down as Congress president following the party's humiliating defeat in the general elections.

Earlier this week, Mr Gandhi shared an open letter on Twitter, listing his reasons to quit from the top post. He also edited his Twitter bio, removing the party designation.

"Rebuilding the party requires hard decisions and numerous people will have to be made accountable for the failure of 2019," he wrote, adding that it would be "unjust to hold others accountable but ignore my own responsibility as president of the party," his letter read.

Mr Gandhi had also written in the letter that he would take no part in the selection of his successor.

It is not clear if Mr Gandhi's resignation letter has been accepted by the party. On Saturday, senior leaders met in Delhi, but the party said there was no discussion on who would be the next Congress chief.