In euphoria since its good showing in Bihar as part of the Mahagathbandhan six months ago, the Congress on Thursday voiced disappointment over the election results even as its choice of alliance partners could not help it make the desired dent in States like West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
The Congress-CPI(M) alliance failed to pose a threat to ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. The party said that despite the outcome, the alliance between the Congress and the left is “most natural”. The Congress agreed that after 15 years in Assam, the State was perhaps looking for a change and pointed to the Kerala’s cyclic trend of throwing out incumbent Governments.
With yet another dismal show after the lok Sabha polls two years ago, Congress is now a national political party with a presence in just Karnataka, the hill States of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh besides the three North-Eastern States Mizoram, Manipur and Meghalaya. A win in the Union Territory of Puducherry is the only solace.
While Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi, who had campaigned across, accepted the verdict and vowed that the party will work harder till it wins the confidence and trust of people, party in a statement said that the outcome was “not unexpected” and cited yearning for a “change” as the reason for the party’s debacle in Assam, where three-term Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi was leading Congress.
Congress chief in a statement said that the party will introspect into reasons for the loss and will rededicate to service of people with greater vigour.
“Congress accepts the verdict of the people of Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala with utmost humility. I thank all the voters who participated in strengthening our democratic process during these elections as also the Congress workers and leaders who worked hard during the campaign”, she said. She congratulated people of Puducherry for giving the mandate to the party.
“We accept the verdict of people with humility. My best wishes to the parties that have won the elections. I take this opportunity to thank every Congress worker and leader and our allies for their effort during these elections. We will work harder till we win the confidence & trust of people,” Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter.
Congress has been losing election after election after the 2014 lok Sabha polls in which it had come out with its worst ever performance, securing just 44 seats in the 543-member House. It had since lost power in Maharashtra, Haryana, Delhi and Jammu &Kashmir. It also failed to perform creditably in tribal dominated Jharkhand. The party has now bigger litmus tests of its worthiness with bigger Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh & Punjab followed by elections in Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa and Karnataka in the following years but ahead of the next general elections in 2019.
The remarks of Sonia Gandhi as also several other party leaders suggest that the AICC could go in for a brainstorming session soon to generate fresh ideas and a strategy that could help it overcome the challenging political situation. Sonia is at the helm of the party since March 1998 and has created a record of sorts by being the longest serving chief of the Congress.
Gandhi scion Rahul was made party vice-president in January 2013 at the Jaipur Chintan Shivir held over a year ahead of the lok Sabha polls in which he was the “face” of the party. Since then Rahul has been more active in the organisation, with the Congress president taking a backseat.