Indian Congress official alarmed over party’s fate

A senior leader of India’s main opposition Congress party says its struggles are at the point that it may not be able to win key upcoming state elections or ensure its own future.

The party is facing attrition because it is taking too long to come to terms with its defeat in May national elections, former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said.

Congress won only 52 of

542 parliamentary seats in the polls, compared to 303 won by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.

The party faces crucial tests in Oct. 21 state elections in Haryana in the north and Maharashtra in the west. Party president Rahul Gandhi resigned after the May defeat. His mother, Sonia Gandhi, stepped in on an interim basis.