The leader of India's main opposition Congress party, Sonia Gandhi has offered to resign today after almost two dozen top leaders called for better decision-making in the party, which has ruled for much of the country's independent history.

The leader’s call made in a letter is a rare dare to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has dominated Congress since India won independence in 1947 from colonial ruler Britain. But, in recent years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has dealt the Congress party heavy electoral defeats.

It was learnt that Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, the widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, asked the party to relieve her of her role as interim president in a speech to a virtual meeting of the Congress Working Committee - the highest decision-making body.

Two party sources have revealed that the signatories to the letter expect the Gandhi family to either play a proactive role or step down, adding that more than 300 regional Congress politicians are in support of the letter. But several figures in the party, including the chief ministers of Congress-led states, have publicly backed her continuing in the role.

The party is however expected to announce its decision at a news conference set for 3 pm local time (09:30 GMT).