Punjab cabinet hails Cong victory on Assembly seats

The Punjab cabinet led by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today congratulated UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on the party's "excellent performance" in the Assembly elections, for which results were announced today.

The cabinet unanimously hailed the Congress victory on four Assembly seats, including Shahkot in Punjab, as a manifestation of the party's clear resurgence on the country's political landscape, according to an official statement.

"Heartiest congratulations from Punjab cabinet to Smt Sonia Gandhi ji and @RahulGandhi for excellent performance of @INCIndia in 3 Assembly bypolls & deferred poll on 1 Knataka seat. Partys resurgence continues under your dynamic leadership. A clear sign of things to come (sic)," Amarinder Singh tweeted after the Cabinet meeting.

Coming as they do on the heels of the Karnataka Assembly poll victory, the Congress wins in the bypolls in Shahkot (Punjab), Ampati (Meghalaya) and Palus Kadegaon (Maharashtra), as well as in the deferred election in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, clearly indicate that the party is slowly but surely gaining back its stronghold in the national political arena, the cabinet said.

The fact that the victories have come from states across the country shows that the Congress resurgence is not confined to any region or community but encompasses the entire length and breadth of India, the cabinet observed.

There was palpable change in the mood of the people, who were totally disillusioned with the policies and functioning of the BJP-led government at the Centre, noted the cabinet, appreciating the positive direction in which Rahul Gandhi was leading the party.

Earlier in the day, the chief minister said the BJP was clearly losing its narrative and the Congress was all set to replace the BJP at the Centre after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.