Rahul Gandhi Says Congress 'Will Learn' From Decimation in State Elections

The Congress party has failed to mount a challenge to the BJP in four states and lost Punjab to an AAP landslide.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

As the dust settles on the results of the 2022 Assembly elections in five states and the Congress party looks at its dismal showing, Rahul Gandhi tweeted that the party has accepted the people's verdict.

"Humbly accept the people’s verdict. Best wishes to those who have won the mandate. My gratitude to all Congress workers and volunteers for their hard work and dedication. We will learn from this and keep working for the interests of the people of India."

This was followed by Priyanka Gandhi's tweet where she said that their workers and leaders worked hard and fought for people's issues. However, they could not convert their hard work into votes, she said.

The Congress not only failed to mount a challenge in the states where it was challenging the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), it also suffered a crushing defeat in the Punjab to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), despite ruling the state for the last five years.

The Congress' chief ministerial candidate in Punjab, Charanjit Singh Channi, who had taken over as CM of the state last year, failed to win in either of the two seats he stood from, Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur. The party has only secured wins and leads in 18 seats in the 117-seat Punjab Assembly, down from 77 in 2017.

In Uttarakhand, where it was expected to be a close race between the party and the incumbent BJP government, the Congress has only secured 19 seats, with the BJP winning and leading in 47 out of 70 assembly seats. The Congress CM face in Uttarakhand, Harish Rawat, has also failed to win his seat.

In Goa too, the Congress has fallen far short of the majority mark in the 40-seat Assembly, with leads and wins in only 11. With the BJP winning or leading in 20 seats, it is looking comfortably set to form a government with the assistance of independents or any one other party. Here also, the Congress has lost seats, after being the single-largest party in 2017 with 17 seats.

In Manipur, where the Congress had been in power till 2017, the party sees itself reduced to five seats in conjunction with established allies, with the BJP on the course to form the government in a coalition after falling narrowly short of a majority of its own.

In Uttar Pradesh, as perhaps expected, the party has found itself relegated to irrelevancy, winning only two seats while the BJP storms back to power with 270 seats in 403-strong Assembly. Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party has secured 128 seats in the state that has the largest population in the country.

Follow live updates on the election results of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, and Uttarakhand on The Quint.