New Delhi, March 15 (IANS) Amid a call for leadership change in the party, Congress General Secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has called a meeting of party leaders on Tuesday to find out the reasons for the defeat.
The Congress could only get just over 2 per cent votes and two seats in the Uttar Pradesh polls.
The meeting has been called in Delhi which will be attended by the office-bearers and important leaders of the party.
The Congress has faced a massive loss in all the five states though Priyanka tried hard to make the party relevant but could not get support of the people.
The Congress Working Committee on Sunday reposed faith in interim party chief Sonia Gandhi after its marathon meeting to discuss the outcome of the Assembly polls and authorised her to undertake "necessary and comprehensive" organisational changes.
Party General Secretary K.C. Venugopal and chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that the CWC endorsed holding of a 'Chintan Shivir' (brainstorming session).
"The recent Assembly election results of five states are a cause of serious concern for the Indian National Congress. The party accepts that due to shortcomings in our strategy, we could not effectively expose the misrule of the BJP state governments in four states and overcome the anti-incumbency in the state of Punjab in the short time after effecting a change of leadership," said the CWC resolution.
It said that the Congress "represents the hopes of millions of Indians against political authoritarianism prevailing in the country today and the party is fully conscious of its immense responsibility."
The resolution said that "humbly accepting the electoral verdict of the latest round of Assembly elections, the Congress party assures its workers and the people of India that it will continue to remain a vigilant and vibrant opposition. The Congress Party will be fully prepared to face the electoral challenges in the election going states in 2022 and 2023 as well as in the Lok Sabha elections 2024.
"The CWC unanimously reaffirms its faith in the leadership of 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."
According to the ABP-CVOTER-IANS BATTLE FOR THE STATES - WAVE 1, the goodwill of the Union government remains the same except in Punjab, which is up against the Centre over the three farm laws.
The survey found that overall, 13.3 per cent said the 'country is moving forward but not my life', 29.3 per cent said the 'country is moving forward and my life too', while 5 per cent said that 'life is improving but the country is in poor state'.
A day earlier, Customs officials had recovered 495 grams of gold valued at Rs 24.14 lakh from a passenger on his arrival from Dubai. The gold was concealed in various items like a blender, facial cream box, and sandals. A case for smuggling of gold was registered. Further investigation is in progress, an official said.
The survey, conducted in the five poll-bound states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, revealed that about 51 per cent respondents in Punjab are not satisfied at all with work of the MLA of their respective areas.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took to Twitter regarding the spike in price of gas "The BJP government is increasing the price of LPG gas every month. The prices of petrol and diesel have been increased by 60-70 times in 3-4 months, but the price of sugarcane has not been increased in the past three years."
Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said on Thursday that the vaccine supply to the state has been accelerated, but the coverage of vaccination due beneficiaries remain critical for the successful impact of the vaccination drive.
