After facing a rout in Nagaland and Tripura and swinging on a hung verdict in Meghalaya, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, on Monday, 5 March, said the party “respects the mandate of the people”.
The Congress chief also hit out at the BJP, accusing it of “usurping” power through proxy in Meghalaya, and using “big money” to create an “opportunistic alliance”.
In a tweet, Gandhi said:
Thanking party workers, Gandhi said that the Congress would now focus on strengthening their base across the Northeast and “winning back the trust of the people”. The Congress chief also alleged that the BJP is “obsessed” with “grabbing” power and has shown “utter disregard” for the mandate of the people of Meghalaya.
Gandhi was away from India on 3 March, when the results for the three states were declared, having decided to travel to Italy to be with his grandmother over the Holi weekend.
In Tripura, the Congress won no seats, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) paving the way to form government in what was once a CPI(M) bastion.
In Nagaland too, the Congress won no seats, with hardly 2.1 percent of the voters reportedly opting for the party.
Despite winning the most number of seats in Meghalaya – 21– the Congress will not be forming the government, with the BJP allying with the second largest party National People’s party, to sit at the throne. Top party leaders Ahmed Patel and Kamal Nath were rushed to Shillong to talk to regional parties in a bid to form a government but to no avail.
This development has been attributed to a severe anti-Congress stance being taken by the other parties in the state.
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