Poll debacle: Congress Working Committee meet begins in Delhi

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, March 13

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) has started its meeting here on Sunday to discuss the poll debacle in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab, which represent the second major jolt to the grand old party in recent months after its previous rout in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi is chairing the meeting at 10, Janpath.

Top sources say threadbare discussions on reasons behind the losses, the road ahead and the need for “surgical interventions to stem the rot” are expected to be held.

The meeting comes soon after senior leaders of the G23 — Kapil Sibal, Anand Sharma, Manish Tewari, BS Hooda and Akhilesh Prasad Singh — met at the residence of veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday to express shock at the party’s “disastrous defeat”.

The CWC had at its last meeting on October 16 approved the Congress’ internal poll schedule, which said the party chief’s election would be held by September 20 and Sonia Gandhi would continue as interim chief till then.

As per the schedule so far, Congress’ organisational elections are to commence next month with the poll for block committees and a member each of the Pradesh Congress Committee scheduled from April 16 to May 31. The process is slated to conclude with the election of the AICC president between August 21 and September 20.

It remains to be seen if Sonia, finding herself and her children in the line of fire today, proposes to advance the internal election schedule or anything else more drastic.