It's time to put house in order: Sonia Gandhi to Congress on poll results

To set up group to assess loss; party chief election put off in view of Covid

Interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi presided over a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Monday where she did not mince her words about the terrible performance of the party in the Assembly elections just past.
 
Party leader Rahul Gandhi was not present at the meeting as he was unwell, Congress leaders said, though he seemed to be active on social media. Sister and UP leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, however, attended. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not attend either.
 
As Congress leaders did not have much to say in their defence in the face of the huge electoral losses, the second part of the meeting turned into a discussion on the management of the Covid-19 pandemic. The election for the presidentship of the party has been deferred indefinitely at the suggestion of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot who cited Covid as the reason.

 

Earlier, the election was to have been held on June 23. He was supported by party leader and former leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad.
 
“We have to take note of our serious setbacks. To say that we are deeply disappointed is to make an understatement. I intend to set up a small group to look at every aspect that caused such reverses and report back very quickly,” the interim president said. “These results tell us clearly that we need to put our house in order.”
 
The party chief’s strong words come days after she described their performance in last month’s Assembly elections as “very disappointing” and added that it was “unexpectedly so”.

 
Not everyone agreed. Veteran Congress leader from UP, Pramod Tewari repeatedly said Rahul Gandhi’s performance in the elections had been stellar and urged Priyanka to take the message of Congressmen to the leader.
 
Privately, top party leaders said they would wait for Rahul Gandhi to recover and renew their demand that a stronger, more popular individual lead the party.
 
Outside the meeting, most senior members were cynical in their response, claiming that no other outcome should have been expected given that senior national leaders were not invited to campaign as it was Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi who hogged the limelight.

 
“MLAs kept asking for leaders to be sent from Delhi. But they only got Priyanka and Rahul,” said a former chief minister.
 
Disgruntled Congress leader Sanjay Jha tweeted: “Both Mamata Banerjee and Himanta Biswa Sarma who are taking oath as CM are former Congress leaders. They left because of our arrogance. And disrespect of their opinions. Add Jyotiraditya Scindia to the list. It’s long.”
 
He added: “It’s never too late to learn from one’s blunders.”
 
Party in-charge of the West Bengal election, Jitin Prasada, said the calculation in Delhi was that an alliance would help the party. But this turned out to be the wrong alliance. Those in Bengal are opposed to Trinamool Congress, while Delhi supports Mamata Banerjee and the TMC. This confusion led to the Congress’s defeat.

 
Madhya Pradesh leader Digvijaya Singh said he had been in charge of Assam. But during his tenure, the party had never had an alliance with a leader like Badruddin Ajmal, who heads the All India United Democratic Front. Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, one of the members of the so-called Rahul Gandhi brigade, was general secretary in-charge of Assam.
 
A former CM said no accountability was fixed for losses in Kerala and West Bengal. The Bengal PCC chief and leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Choudhury, is likely to continue in his position.
 
Assam PCC chief Ripun Bora has owned responsibility and resigned. For the first time in history, the Congress has not got a single seat in the Assembly: Not even from strongholds like Malda and Murshidabad (Choudhary’s area) which the party won even during the Emergency.

 
On Covid, Chhattisgarh claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah’s preoccupation with elections led them to put Covid management on the back burner, and as a result many died.
 
It is the Centre, the leaders said, which is responsible for the worsening public health crisis.