Cong lost 2014 polls in Odisha due to infighting: Hariprasad

The Congress today admitted that internal conflict within the party led to its dismal performance in the elections this year.
"Most of the district presidents in their feed back have blamed internal fight in the party as the cause of Congress' defeat," AICC general secretary in-charge of Odisha B K Hariprasad told reporters after meeting the presidents of 33 organisational districts in the state.
Stressing that infighting among leaders had "cost dearly" for the Congress, he refused to admit that the party also suffered due to wrong selection of candidates.
Hariprasad along with senior party leader Shubhankar Sarkar, met the party's district presidents separately and recorded their feedback and would be meeting the defeated candidates for the state Assembly and Lok Sabha elections tomorrow.

Though Congress fielded candidates in all 147 Assembly segments, only 16 of them won the elections while the party lost from all 21 Lok Sabha seats.
Stating that the feedback taking exercise was done with an intention of preparing a road map and action plan to revive the organisation, Hariprasad said they would consult Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi before preparing a strategy for Odisha.

Meanwhile, former chief minister and tribal leader Hemananda Biswal disapproved the feedback taking exercise.
"I do not think there is any significance of this exercise after the Antony committee's report on Congress' defeat in the 2014 elections," Biswal said.

Biswal told reporters that he had met Sonia Gandhi at Delhi earlier today and urged her to appoint a senior leader having wide experience as the new OPCC president.