A day after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) decided that Sonia Gandhi will remain president of the party at a meeting discussing the Assembly polls debacle, Punjab Lok Congress founder Amarinder Singh said on Monday, 14 March, that the Gandhis were entirely responsible for the crushing defeat, reported NDTV.
The former Congress leader said, "The Congress has not only lost in Punjab but also in UP, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur and the Gandhis are entirely to blame for the party's shameful defeat."
He claimed that the party was "comfortably placed" in Punjab before he was unseated as chief minister.
Singh said that Congress "dug its own grave" the day they decided to back "an unstable and pompous person" like Navjot Sidhu and appointing "corrupt" Charanjit Singh Channi as CM just months before the polls.
Singh said that Congress has no future under the current leadership, referring to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Sunil Jakhar said on Monday, that the party's crushing defeat in Punjab was a result of senior leaders misleading the Gandhis. He pointed a finger at Harish Rawat, Punjab in-charge, for the long list of mistakes made in the polls.
He said,
"I suspected what he was up to. He got his agenda implemented at the cost of bickering. I told (Mallikarjun) Kharge – he may be in charge of the Punjab Congress but I never accepted him as my in-charge. You can be in charge of the Congress but you cannot be in charge of me."
However, Jakhar sees hope for Congress still. He said, "A ragtag outfit like the Aam Aadmi Party won't last long. But we have to put up a credible face here if we want to win."
Further, Assam Chief Minister and BJP leader Himata Biswa Sarma said, "Gandhi's cannot take Congress into any victory. Congress will not remain visible even in Panchayat elections in days to come."
Disparaging Sonia Gandhi, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said that losing elections should be learned from the Congress, ANI reported.
Congress to Hold a 'Chintan Shivir'
After a nearly five-hour-long meeting on Sunday, 13 March, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala and general secretary KC Venugopal held a briefing of the CWC, saying that it would "have a detailed deliberation on party strategy and way forward in the upcoming elections in 2022, 2023 and 2024."
The senior party leaders will hold a 'Chintan Shivir' immediately after the present Parliament session ends on 8 April, Venugopal added.
Resuming his briefing, the leader informed that prior to the 'Shivir,' the CWC would meet once again to discuss the matters to be taken up in the meeting, which include organisational changes and strategies.
As per Venugopal, party leader Sonia Gandhi will "immediately take up correction measures to revamp and re-strengthen the organisation."
Party Rejects Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi's Proposal to Resign
Meanwhile, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury spoke to news agency ANI and indicated that though Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi and leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra proposed to resign during Sunday's meeting, the committee had rejected the proposition.
"Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi said that she, along with her family members Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, are ready to sacrifice their posts for the party, but we all rejected this," Ranjan was quoted as saying.
Reiterating this, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said that the party members believed that Sonia Gandhi was not solely responsible for the defeat in the five states and that state leaders and MPs were also responsible.
"We reimposed our faith in her, there's no question of offering resignation," he added.
Meanwhile, taking responsibility, Congress leader Harish Rawat, said, "All of us thought that we were winning in Uttarakhand... being the chairman of the Campaign Committee, I take responsibility for the defeat. I apologized to every member and leadership in the working committee."
Further, KS Alagiri, president of the Tamil Nadu Congress committee, said in a tweet that the elections were lost due to the disunity of the Opposition. However, he added, that though the BJP won the four states, it has actually lost ground.
The CWC Meet
On Monday, the CWC held an hours-long meeting, chaired by the party's interim president Sonia Gandhi to discuss the poll debacle in five states and the current political situation.
Following this, the committee announced that it "unanimously reaffirms its faith in the leadership of Smt Sonia Gandhi."
In an official statement, the committee had indicated, "The CWC unanimously reaffirms its faith in the leadership of Smt Sonia Gandhi and requests the Congress President to lead from the front, address the organisational weaknesses, effect necessary and comprehensive organisational changes in order to take on the political challenges."
On 10 March, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won four states and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won one, as the Congress party suffered a massive drubbing in the five state Assembly elections.
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