Sonia Gandhi to call CWC very soon; Cong points at internal fight as reason for poll debacle

Sonia Gandhi will be calling a meeting of the Congress Working Committee “very soon” to discuss the party’s poll debacle in five states even as the leadership appeared to have zeroed in on the internal fight as one of the main reasons for its defeat in Punjab and Uttarakhand.

The party particularly blamed anti-incumbency during Amarinder Singh’s four-and-half year tenure as the reason for its debacle in Punjab.

Sources said Congress was not expecting a defeat in Uttarakhand of all places while being confident of retaining Punjab and capturing Goa from the BJP. It did not expect Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi to lose from both the seats he contested and party chief in the state Navjot Singh Sidhu being relegated to third position.

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At the CWC meeting, which may be called within a week, the leadership may ask leaders like Sidhu, who has made public statements in the run up to the polls and during campaigning exposing divisions within, to explain the defeat as well as looking at the micro data that led to the debacle.

"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," top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted in the afternoon.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told a press conference that the results were “not as per our expectations” and they “expected better results” in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa.

Asked whether internal bickering was the reason for the debacle, Surjewala said, “whether the war for posts…is undermining the position of the party to the extent where we end up helping the cause of our opposition?...Whether the difference of opinion and the quest for position has become so bitter that we are harming or cutting the very tree, the Congress, on which we are sitting? That’s the question each one of us needs to answer and introspect.”

“It is not a question of Punjab, Uttarakhand or Goa alone. Leaders and workers in every part of the country will have to think whether the animosity towards a colleague, the quest for a post is going to strengthen the opponent,” he said.

Surjewala said the CWC will discuss all issues threadbare as they “have to do course correction, have to do introspection, have to find a way ahead and ensure that people centric issues continue to be relevant in our society”.

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Though Congress did not do well in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress feels that it is on a “resurrection” path in the state with Surjewala saying Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s campaign has put the party in every nook and corner of the state. He said the party resurrected in UP but they could not convert it into seats.

He said Channi was chosen as the new leader, a son of the soil who is honest, but they could not overcome the anti-incumbency generated by Amarinder Singh’s regime.

Surjewala also said the Congress was the only party that referred to real people’s issues but the party concedes that it could not succeed in capitalising on it. “My temporary failure to put people’s issues in the imagination of people is not the failure of the issues…We need to introspect, reimagine and re-examine ourselves. The CWC will provide a way forward,” he said.

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