Sonia says need to put house in order
NEW DELHI: Congress leaders on Monday blamed factionalism and poor local leadership and cited hurdles in campaigning and paucity of time for preparations as they analysed the party’s performance in the recent assembly polls in the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Monday after AICC chief Sonia Gandhi said the party has to take note of its serious setbacks in assembly polls, and face the reality to draw the right lessons and put its house in order .
The party again deferred its internal election to find a successor of president Sonia Gandhi “in view of the nationwide emergent conditions prevailing on account of unprecedented corona pandemic” and several leaders maintained that organisation has to be devoted to Covid-19 relief work. Rahul Gandhi, who is recuperating from Covid-19, didn’t attend the CWC meeting on Monday.
In her opening remarks, Gandhi asked the CWC to “take note of our serious setbacks” and said that “to say that we are deeply disappointed is to make an understatement”. She proposed the creation of a committee to analyse the results and added, “but if we do not face up to the reality, if we do not look the facts in the face, we will not draw the right lessons.
According to people present at the meeting, at one point, Gandhi quipped that under her stewardship, the party has lost elections in four states, seeming to suggest that she wanted to step down but senior leader Salman Khurshid intervened and urged her to continue through the pandemic.
After the chief ministers of states ruled by the Congress described the Covid situation in their respective states, it was the turn of the general secretaries to give their assessment of the polls, added the people cited above. The Congress lost badly in Assam and Kerala, performed poorly in Puducherry, and didn’t win a single seat in the West Bengal assembly. It was, however, the junior partner in the victorious DMK-led alliance in Tamil Nadu.
In his report, Jitendra Singh, in charge of Assam, said the Congress lost the state as it didn’t have sufficient time to optimise its alliances with AIUDF and the Bodoland People’s Front.
Jitin Prasada, Bengal incharge, admitted that Mamata Banerjee’s TMC managed to build up momentum in the first six phases that affected the Congress’s fortunes in the last two phases. Dinesh Gundu Rao, in charge of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, blamed former Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy for the debacle.
General secretary Tariq Anwar blamed infighting that weakened the Congress organisation for the Kerala debacle. General secretary KC Venugopal and the party’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said a group will be formed in 48 hours to look into the results.
“The leadership refuses to confront its own inability to lead and direct the party,” said Neera Chandioke, a political scientist.