Congress's self-defeatism behind poll debacle

Admitting that the Congress was "feeble" in West Bengal, party parliamentarian Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Tuesday blamed the "sense of defeatism" for its dismal performance in the panchayat polls.

The ruling Trinamool Congress secured an emphatic win in the elections.

Speaking to mediapersons after the Congress managed to win only one, Murshidabad zila parishad (district council), the Lok Sabha member from Behrampur aso blamed the party's previous alliance with the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress for the flop show.

"We have admitted that the Congress was a feeble party here. Because of our previous alliance with the Trinamool, we had to suffer a lot. The alliance enabled Trinamool to consume the Congress and become stronger while we lost ground," said Chowdhury.

"But more than that, our party's sense of defeatism is to be blamed. Even before the fight started, we conceded defeat. This self-defeatism has badly affected Congress in many places," said Chowdhury.

With the Trinamool winning 13 of the 17 zila parishads, Chowdhury, who is union minister of state for railways, blamed terror tactics employed by the ruling party for its emphatic win.

"Up against Trinamool's terror tactics, we were forced to fight half-heartedly, so they were bound to win," said Chowdhury.

He also cautioned against forging an alliance with the Trinamool again. The two parties broke their ties, both at the central government and the state level last year.

"It's better that we keep losing than forge an alliance. We may lose, but the party will not be lost," added Chowdhury.