NEW DELHI: A week after its poll defeat in Rajasthan, the Congress’ top leadership on Saturday held a meeting to review reasons for the poor performance.
This was attended by party president Mallikarjun Kharge, former president Rahul Gandhi, former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Congress Working Committee member Sachin Pilot, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, state in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and state chief Govind Singh Dotasra, among others.
According to sources, top leaders felt that though a temporary truce was worked out between Gehlot and Pilot before the elections, it did not strike a chord with the electorate. BJP’s divisive campaign was also cited as one of the reasons, said sources.
The leaders also felt that though the party was strong on the ground, state leaders could not create momentum with campaigns along the lines of those in Karnataka. It was also learnt that Rahul Gandhi and Kharge had asked Gehlot, Pilot and Dotasra to start preparing for the 2024 polls at the earliest.
Speaking to reporters, Randhawa said that the party was able to retain its vote share. A detailed analysis will be done, he said. When asked if accountability would be fixed, he replied in the affirmative, maintaining that there was no need for a change of guard as the party had not done badly.
After the Mizoram review meeting, AICC in-charge Bhakt Charan Das said, “We discussed every aspect of the Mizoram election, including the organisational structure of the state at the grassroots level and state level.” The Congress won only one seat in the state. The party held separate meetings in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh on Friday.