"I accept full responsibility (for the party's performance)," Gandhi said at a press conference here.
Party leaders said reports of Gandhi offering to resign were "mischievous and incorrect".
Gandhi also responded to the question at a press conference addressed by him. "We will have a meeting of the working committee. That you can leave between me and the working committee," he said when asked if he would resign.
The Congress is poised to win 51 seats in the Lok Sabha polls, only seven seats more than the seats it won in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Gandhi led the party's campaign in the elections.
Rahul Gandhi has taken full responsibility for the party's poll defeat and there is speculation that he may offer to resign at the CWC meeting.
However, the party leaders are backing him strongly and have said that the blame for party's poor showing cannot be put on any one individual.
At the CWC meet, Rahul Gandhi and other party leaders are expected to give their assessment of what went wrong and the remedial steps that must be taken.
There was reports of Rahul Gandhi having offered to resign on Thursday, after the results, but the Congress denied those.
Rahul Gandhi himself answered the question at a press conference he addressed later in the day. "We will have a meeting of the Working Committee. That you can leave between me and the Working Committee," he said.
He also admitted that the road for the party was long and tough, but asked party workers and leaders not to lose heart.
The Congress has won 52 seats in the elections, just eight more than the 44 it won in 2014. Rahul Gandhi was a prominent face in both the elections.
The party won a single seat (Rae Bareli) in Uttar Pradesh, but Rahul Gandhi himself failed to retain his family bation of Amethi in India's biggest state. The loss is likely to have implications not just on Congress' revival plans in Uttar Pradesh, but also on his own political standing as a leader. He won from Kerala's Wayanad.
The results show that Rahul Gandhi, who became the Congress chief in 2017, has not been able to galvanise the party to offer a strong counter against the BJP, which has handed the main opposition party its worst electoral outcomes.
The Congress scored a nil in 18 states and Union territories in these elections, and failed to dent the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, where it formed governments last year.
It delayed formation of an alliance in Bihar following which the opposition could win only one seat in the state.
Its poor electoral strategy has allowed saffron party to become a dominant force in West Bengal and strengthen itself further in Karnataka.
The party is again unlikely to have its own Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha as it does not have the minimum strength required to get the status as per rules.
Nine former chief ministers and the party's leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge are among some of Congress' prominent losers.
A party source told IANS: "Many General Secretaries and state unit chiefs could face the heat as the party will fix responsibility for its poor performance."
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Saturday authorised Rahul Gandhi -- whose offer to step down as the Congress President was unanimously rejected by CWC members -- to make a complete overhaul and detailed restructuring of the party at every level.
According to the source, the Congress President was quite forthright at the CWC meeting, not sparing even some senior leaders of the party.
Gandhi is believed to have said that Congress Chief Ministers Ashok Gehlot and Kamal Nath were eager to give ticket to their sons although the party President was not very keen on the idea as he felt that they had a bigger role to play in campaigning.
While Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath's son Nakul Nath successfully contested from his father's stronghold Chhindwara, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav Gehlot tasted defeat in Jodhpur.
The source said that Gandhi also referred to veteran Congressman and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram for pushing for a Lok Sabha ticket for his son Karti Chidambaram from Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu.
Karti Chidambaram is one of the eight Congress candidates who emerged victorious in Tamil Nadu.
The Congress President reportedly told the CWC that these senior leaders had put the interests of their sons before the interests of the party.
Gandhi is learnt to have said that Chidambaram was even willing to walk out of the party if his son was denied a Lok Sabha ticket.
However, when Gandhi offered to step down as the Congress President on Saturday, Chidambaram got emotional and broke down in front of the CWC members.
The source said that Chidambaram reportedly told Gandhi that 12 crore people had voted for the party and that "south India believes in you. How can you say you don't want to remain President?".
Speaking to media persons in Parliament, Gandhi said: "I will not participate in the process of electing the new President as it will make things more complicated."
Gandhi offered to step down as President on May 25 following the party's dismal performance in the Lok Sabha elections.
His offer was rejected unanimously by the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's highest decision making body.
Shortly after Rajasthan's Ashok Gehlot said that Gandhi should remain at the party's helm, the party chief told reporters here: "I have made my decision clear. You all know it."
Amid mass resignations in the Congress in a show of "solidarity", Gandhi, who has announced his decision to give up the presidency, was to meet Gehlot, Amarinder Singh (Punjab), Kamal Nath (Madhya Pradesh), V. Narayansamy (Puducherry) and Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh).
There is no official agenda for the meeting but the crisis in the country's oldest political party following its rout is bound to come up for discussion.
The Congress faces a leadership issue, with Gandhi announcing he won't continue as the President and asking the party to pick a successor.
Most Congress leaders, however, want Gandhi to continue to lead the party.
The Congress won just 52 seats in the Lok Sabha. Gandhi himself was defeated in Amethi in Uttar Pradesh although he got elected from Wayanad in Kerala.
The party suffered a drubbing even in the Hindi heartland states where only last year it had ousted the BJP from power in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Gandhi had earlier blamed Gehlot and Kamal Nath for the reverses in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh in the Lok Sabha battle.
Gehlot said earlier that the Chief Ministers will show their solidarity with Gandhi and that everyone was responsible for the election debacle.
He tweeted: "We firmly believe that only he (Gandhi) can lead the party in the current scenario. His commitment towards the well being of our country and countrymen is un-compromised and unmatched."
He said the 2019 election outcome was not a defeat of the Congress programme.
He said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to hide its failures behind their "fanatic nationalism with the help of enormous resources and government machinery at hand.
"But, in spite all odds, it's no secret how amidst opposition, only Congress Prez did his best to make it an issue-based election and took BJP head on," Gehlot said.
The protesters included many who have resigned from their party posts in a show of solidarity with Gandhi.
Joining the protest were Delhi party leaders Rajesh Lilothia, Shobha Oza and Jagdish Tytler.
Lilothia told IANS: "We demand that Rahulji should continue as party chief."
He said the responsibility for the party's defeat in the Lok Sabha elections lay with all party leaders and Gandhi alone could not be blamed.
The protest came a day after Chief Ministers of five Congress-ruled states met Gandhi and requested him to continue as the party President.
Gandhi has offered to step down as the party chief after the Congress won just 52 Lok Sabha seats.
With Gandhi adamant that he won't helm the party any more, names of several leaders are doing the rounds for the party's top post. These include Mallikarjuna Kharge and A.K. Antony.
Senior party sources told IANS that the meeting of the CWC - the party's top decision- making body - will be called in the next few days, after getting a nod from the party chief.
The development comes a day after all the five Congress Chief Ministers met Gandhi at his residence and sought to persuade him to continue as the party chief.
The party source said that names of former Union Home Minister and senior Maharashtra leader Sushilkumar Shinde or Karnataka leader Mallikarjuna Kharge, the leader of the party in the previous Lok Sabha, are being considered for the top party post.
On Saturday, Kharge, who is also the party's in-charge for Maharashtra, had, along with Shinde, General Secretary K.C. Venugopal, party's Maharashtra secretary in-charge Sonal Patel, Manikrao Thackrey, former MP Nana Patole, Rajya Sabha MP Hussain Dalwai, state leader Mukul Wasnik, met Gandhi at his residence and discussed the leadership issue and the coming Maharashtra Assembly elections.
Meanwhile, the party source also indicated that the number of General Secretaries and Secretaries will also shrink this time.
Gandhi had offered to step down as the party chief on May 25, during the CWC meeting following the party's dismal performance in Lok Sabha elections, where it could manage to get only 52 out of 542 seats. He had himself lost from Amethi, his family pocket borough, to Union Minister Smriti Irani by a margin of 55,000 votes. He, however, was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kerala's Wayanad.
Earlier in the day, scores of Congress workers and activists sat on indefinite strike at the party office demanding Gandhi to take back his resignation. Even an upset Delhi Congress worker identified as Hamid Khan tried to climb on a tree and hang himself. However, he was soon forcibly brought down by the Delhi Police personnel, who were deployed there. He was taken to Tughlaq Road police station.
The CWC is the party's top decision-making body, is authrized to start the process of electing Gandhi's successor.
A Congress General Secretary, who wished not to be named, said: "Technically, Rahul Gandhi will continue as the party chief as his resignation has not been accepted by the CWC."
He said to elect a new President, the CWC needs to accept Gandhi's resignation first.
Party General Secretary, Organisation, K.C. Venugopal said the decision to call a CWC meeting will be a "collective" one.
Venugopal, who was in Kerala, told IANS over phone: "A decision on calling a CWC meeting will be taken collectively."
Gandhi on Wednesday announced that he has resigned as the Congress President, taking blame for the party's rout in the Lok Sabha elections where it could win only 52 of the 542 seats.
In an open letter posted on his Twitter account which no longer described him as the Congress President, Gandhi, son of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, said the BJP's sweeping election win proved that the RSS aim of capturing the country's institutional structure was now complete.
"As President of the Congress party, I am responsible for the loss of the 2019 election. Accountability is critical for the future growth of our party.
"It is for this reason that I have resigned as Congress President," he said.
Two days after the election results were announced on May 23, Gandhi had said he would resign as the Congress chief.
Gandhi was defeated in the family pocket borough, Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, but he won from Wayanad in Kerala.
If some called the step a big loss for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), others said his resignation would render many people jobless.
"After @RahulGandhi's resignation, Unemployment in India to increase even more. Jobs of many Journalists, Comedians, Second and Third Grade Film Makers, 40Paisa/Tweet keyboard warriors, NGOs to abuse RG Season and Out are in danger...," wrote one user.
Gandhi on Wednesday announced that he has resigned as the Congress President, taking the blame for the party's rout in the Lok Sabha elections where it could win only 52 of the 542 seats.
One Twitter user posted a picture of a crying child, saying that is how the BJP might have actually felt after hearing about the resignation.
"#RahulGandhi removes 'Congress President' from the bio on his Twitter account as he officially resigns from post of Congress President. Big blow to BJP as they lose their STAR CAMPAIGNER. 2024 mein Modiji ke liye campaigning kaun karega," wrote one user who describes herself as a "hyper nationalist".
"Biggest loss for BJP so far. #BJP would be worried like hell right now," tweeted Abhishek Jha.
"#RahulGandhi quits as a congress president but the wave of mourning is in BJP," wrote one user while posting memes on Twitter.
Congress leaders, however, urged Rahul Gandhi to reconsider his resignation.
Hours after Rahul Gandhi stepped down from the Congress President's post, former Union Minister and senior party leader Shashi Tharoor said that all in the Congress must rededicate themselves to the values and principles of the party and the country's Constitution.
"The time for renewal is now," Tharoor, who is the Congress MP for Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram, said in a tweet.
Besides, Tharoor, Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot said party workers wanted Rahul Gandhi to change his mind about quitting the top post.
A video of Rahul Gandhi watching Hindi movie Article 15 on Wednesday evening at PVR Chanakya went viral on social media platform Instagram, where he was praised for not behaving as a VIP.
In the video, Rahul Gandhi was seen interacting with a person sitting next to him and also having some popcorn.
On Wednesday he ended weeks of speculation by stepping down as the party President. Gandhi offered to resign as the party chief during the Congress Working Committee meeting on May 25, two days after the results of the Lok Sabha elections were announced.
The Congress could manage to win only 52 out of 542 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
Gandhi offered to resign taking the moral responsibility of the party's drubbing in the elections.
He lost from his pocket borough of Uttar Pradesh's Amethi to Union Minister and BJP candidate Smriti Irani by a margin of 55,000 votes. He was, however, elected from the Kerala's Wayanad parliamentary constituency.
"It's my humble appeal that she would be apt as the party president to lead ahead. It will be a shot in the arm," Sinha tweeted.
Sinha said Priyanka's leadership will be a boost for the Congress party in particular and political parties in general. "She is a role model of a true dedicated leader. Other political parties should learn and follow her too," he added.
The former BJP leader, who joined the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, also compared the Congress General Secretary to her late grandmother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
"Day before, the timely involvement of Congress' most popular, bold, dynamic leader Priyanka Gandhi for Sonebhadra massacre was reminiscent of the late and great Madam Gandhi. During her Belchi days she had travelled on an elephant. Priyanka broached everything with determination, commitment and courted arrest with a smile," he wrote on Twitter.
Sinha added that her detention by the UP police was uncalled for. She displayed tremendous composure in those circumstances, he said.
Addressing mediapersons after the meeting, Congress media in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala said: "The CWC unanimously appealed to Rahul Gandhi to lead the party as he was the best person for the top post at the time when the BJP-led government was assaulting democracy and undermining people's rights."
Surjewala said, after Rahul Gandhi refused to reconsider his decision, the CWC began consultations to find his successor under five regional sub-groups led by senior party leaders.
He said that the CWC will meet again on Saturday night after the end of the initial consultation process. He also said the CWC has not accepted Rahul Gandhi's resignation yet.
"It is still pending approval from the CWC. But he is adamant on his decision, so a group has been formed for consultation with the party leaders to decide on the new chief," Surjewala said.
For the grand old party, the big moment that appeared to be dawning -- of being able to finally throw away the yoke of dynastic succession of the Gandhi family -- seems to be a non-starter again.
As the Congress Working Committee (CWC) prepared to meet again in the evening after its two-hour meeting in the morning, the five sub-groups formed region-wise to choose a successor to Rahul Gandhi in unison came up with his name.
There was a clamour across all the sub-groups for Rahul Gandhi to be made President again, though he is not keen to take up the responsibility of a party fighting a political downslide.
It is believed that another meeting at 8.30 p.m. will take this forward but in the eventuality that it does not throw anything up, the decision may be postponed.
After Rahul Gandhi resigned as Congress President post the poor showing of the party in the Lok Sabha elections, and stuck to his stand of not going back, the party agreed to go through the process of choosing a person from outside the Gandhi family.
But UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who has been carefully shepherding her son's political rise, is known to have pushed strongly for his name to be proposed. In fact, according to sources, she was unrelenting in making sure no one could look beyond her son.
The fact that the party has been unable to unshackle itself from the psychological hold of the Gandhi dynasty was clear after the morning CWC itself, when the members again appealed to Rahul Gandhi to take back his resignation.
Approval of his resignation is still pending with the CWC, showing the obvious unwillingness of the party to look beyond a Gandhi.
After the CWC meeting in the morning, when Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi said that they did not want to be part of the process to choose the successor to the post of party chief, it appeared that the Congress was finally on its way to getting out of the family shackle-hold.
But with all the five sub-groups, including the one with Rahul Gandhi's sister Priyanka Gandhi on board, proposing his name, the entire process does smack of being a staged operation.
Party sources said that all the sub-groups, including the ones from the south and north, were favouring Rahul Gandhi.
Partry strongman Amarinder Singh, who is known for his independent thinking and way of working, surprisingly did not come for the important CWC meet. While party sources said that those who did not come would be asked for their suggestions, Amarinder Singh had perhaps sensed the way the matter would proceed.
The Congress has been the butt of criticism from the BJP, and especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for being unable to look beyond dynasty.
Young Congress leader from Tripura, Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb, tweeted ahead of the evening CWC: "I have spoken on our choice for the Congress President. Someone who we the young India relates to and someone who leads from the front. Someone who fights for the rights even when the mood of the majority in India is for retribution. The name of the President will be announced soon."
Significantly, Rahul Gandhi had insisted that all the state unit leaders come for Saturday's meeting, which made it look as though the party was keen on taking all on board.
Besides Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, the meeting of the CWC was attended by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, senior party leaders Priyanka Gandhi, Anand Sharma, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot, Ahmed Patel, P. Chidambaram and several others.
With Rahul Gandhi's resignation not yet accepted, and all the sub groups proposing his name, any chance of a new, fresh and independent thinking person entering the party to reinvigorate it seems to have come to naught.
With the Congress' political theatre of the absurd playing out as it has, the name of a new party chief is likely to be postponed again. Rahul Gandhi may not like to be in the firing line once more.
Lalit Bhasin, President, The Bar Association of India, and former Chairman-AICC Legal Cell, in a statement said that Sonia Gandhi ought not to have accepted the request and instead should have "paved the way for someone else as committed and competent as herself to take over as the Congress President".
He termed the action of re-nominating Sonia Gandhi as Congress President a retrograde step.
"No one doubts the competence, qualities and commitment of Sonia Gandhi who has led the party in the past with good results. However, the party, having taken the conscious decision to handover the presidentship to Rahul Gandhi two years ago, should not have re-appointed Sonia.
"After Rahul decided to step down and resign from the presidentship of the party, efforts ought to have been made to select a new face (there are many in the party). The new face could have been a veteran or a young leader," he said.
At Saturday's Congress Working Committee meeting, Rahul Gandhi stuck to his decision to quit, after which the party asked Sonia Gandhi to take over as interim president.