New Delhi, March 6
Clearly in a mood for candid confessions, Congress president Sonia Gandhi today identified spiralling prices, bitter infighting and the failure of legislators to deliver on promises, as the chief reasons for the party’s defeat in the recently held Punjab and Uttarakhand elections.
Admitting to failures both by the party organisation and the government, she told a meeting of party MPs that besides a host of other issues, the spurt in prices of essential commodities was a key factor behind party’s recent electoral reverses. This was her first speech after the election results.
“Prices remain a source of worry,” she said. She, however, softened the blow by enumerating the steps taken by the government to combat inflation.
She was also critical of the party organisation for having failed in Punjab and Uttarakhand.
Asking her party colleagues to introspect, she raised several questions that were clearly meant for the party managers and former chief ministers Amarinder Singh and N.D. Tiwari.
The former resisted all efforts to drop sitting MLAs which, in hindsight, proved fatal as several sitting legislators were rejected by the electorate. The defeat in Uttarakhand has been attributed to Tiwari’s longstanding battle with state unit chief Harish Rawat.
Stating that the party’s performance in Punjab and Uttarakhand left much to be desired, she asked: Were we mindful of the sensitivity and expectations of different sections of society? Did our party fail to work unitedly? Why was the Congress voted out despite ensuring overall development? Did the party put up the best possible candidates and efforts? Why did so many sitting MLAs and ministers fail to retain their seats? What were our shortcomings?
These queries were meant as a ready-reckoner for the party bracing up for assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh next month.
