Elections to the Assembly | The congressional working committee will meet soon to consider the setback
The complete decimation of Congress in the final round of Assembly elections on Thursday raises several questions about the way forward for the big old party. Will it lead to a revolt against the Gandhis’ leadership or usher in greater internal reforms?
With Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s public rallies becoming a topic of discussion, will there now be a greater division of labor between the Gandhi brothers or will the party elect a non-Gandhi as president in September when organizational elections are planned ?
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told a press conference that party chair Sonia Gandhi would soon convene a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to “analyze” the results, but members of the Group of 23 Leaders (G-23) – the group that wrote to Mrs Gandhi to push for internal reforms – said The Hindu that it cannot be “business as usual” and that they would decide on their course of action in a few days.
Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor, who is also a member of the G-23, tweeted: “…to reform our organizational leadership in a way that will revive these ideas and inspire people. One thing is clear: change is inevitable if we are to succeed.”
Senior leaders of this group could skip the event if Ms Gandhi convenes an expanded CWC meeting, as the extra numbers (including special guests) not only prevent “honest discussion, but are used to target reformists”, a said a leader.
Accepting the mandate and expressing his gratitude to party workers on Twitter, former party chairman Rahul Gandhi said, “We will learn from this and continue to work for the interests of the Indian people.”
Ms Vadra tweeted that party workers had worked very hard in Uttar Pradesh (UP) to raise people’s issues but could not convert that into votes. “Congress will follow a positive agenda for the welfare of the people of UP and will do the duty of responsible opposition in fighting for the people’s issues,” she said.
The disconnect with the mood of voters in states like Uttarakhand and Goa, where the party had deployed senior leaders ahead of government formation, came as a complete shock to many.
Several Punjab leaders have privately argued that the party snatched defeat by managing the political situation in the state. Be it the appointment of Navjot Singh Sidhu as the head of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), the public quarrels between him and Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi or the dismissal of Captain Amarinder Singh (retired) as minister in chief, the party scored a goal.
Asked about the struggle for leadership in Punjab, Mr Surjewala said each of them had to think “if the race for position between us is undermining the position of the party to some extent, where we end up helping the cause of our opposition.
Taking to Twitter, Lok Sabha member Jasbir Singh Gill added: “Harish Chowdhary and Ajay Maken have to give a lot of explaining about Congress rout in Punjab. 3 months before Punjab was sure to win but after the entry of these two people into Punjab for the distribution of tickets, the party was ruined in the state. They pocketed tickets, the opposition pocketed votes”.
