In a post-mortem of recently-concluded Lok Sahha election results, Punjab Congress on Thursday unanimously reposed their full faith in the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and urged him to continue to lead the party as AICC president, to steer it through “these difficult times”.

Besides, the party leaders primarily blamed BJP’s anti-secular ‘nationalism narrative’ for the Congress performance.

They resolved that the “party’s poor performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections does not reflect lack of effort or direction on the part of Rahul Gandhi but was the result of BJP’s narrative of their brand of nationalism, which is against the secular fabric of the country”.

A resolution to this effect was passed by the Punjab Congress Legislative Party (CLP) and the newly elected MPs from the state, along with PPCC represented by its president Sunil Jakhar, and AICC general secretary in-charge (Punjab) Asha Kumari.

The resolution was moved by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, who congratulated all Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) leaders and workers, and appreciated their efforts that led to the party’s trend-defying victory in the state. The Chief Minister had invited all the MPs and MLAs, including the ministers, for tea at Punjab Bhawan this afternoon.

The resolution stated that the Punjab CLP, MPs, along with the PPCC, “repose their full faith in the leadership of Rahul Gandhi” and “unanimously request Rahul Gandhi to continue to lead the party as president of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) to steer it through these difficult times”.

“The CLP, along with the MPs and PPCC, extends their unequivocal support to Rahul Gandhi and urges him not to resign at this critical juncture in the party’s journey. The party’s poor performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections does not reflect lack of effort or direction on the part of Rahul Gandhi but was the result of BJP’s narrative of their brand of nationalism, which is against the secular fabric of the country. It is imperative that Rahul should continue to helm and strengthen the Congress in these challenging times,” read the resolution.

Seconding the resolution, Health Minister Brahm Mohindra proposed inclusion of a special mention of the Chief Minister for steering the party to victory, but Captain Amarinder rejected the suggestion saying the victory should be dedicated to the Punjab Congress workers. A separate resolution was then passed to thank party workers for the Congress victory in Punjab.

“The Punjab Congress Legislative Party (CLP) and the newly elected MPs from the state, along with the PPCC represented by its president, Sunil Jakhar, and AICC General Secretary Incharge (Punjab), Asha Kumari, thank INC (Punjab) workers for their tireless efforts in achieving  party’s spectacular win in the state,” said the resolution.

On a suggestion from senior party leader Lal Singh, another resolution was passed to urge the AICC president to reject the resignation of Jakhar, who the party leaders felt had done well to lead the party to an impressive performance in Punjab, maintaining that “they repose faith in Jakhar’s leadership and feel he should continue to serve the party as its president”.

Several MLAs said the results in Punjab clearly showed that the party was poised for victory in the 2022 Assembly elections and urged the Chief Minister to ensure that developmental works should be carried out in the cities and urban areas.

Calling for development grants to be given to MLAs, they underlined the need for development works to be carried out by the administrative officials in close consultation with them.