With the Congress reduced to literally zero in Delhi in Assembly elections, first round of causality took place in the party headquarters on Tuesday. Party general secretary and face of Congress in this elections Ajay Maken, Congress in-charge of Delhi PC Chako and Delhi Congress party president Arvinder Singh quit shortly after the results were declared.
The Congress, which ruled Delhi for 15 years, failed to open its account in the 70-member House. Maken said that he was taking moral responsibility for the humiliating defeat, while the party on Tuesday said the loss has “registered strongly with us” and it will take all steps to establish its connect with people. It promised to “reinvent” itself and revisit its “ideological construct”.
However, while “insulating” Rahul from the blame for the defeat, Maken appeared targeting former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, saying that people questioned Congress as to why it did not fulfill the promises made when it was in power for last 15 years. “The Congress accepts the will of the people with humility and will sincerely introspect the reasons behind its loss. This loss has registered strongly with us and we will take all steps to establish our connect with the people,” the party said in a statement.
The party said it will rebuild its support among the people by working on and executing the core ideas that it has stood for the last 130 years of its inception. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi congratulated Arvind Kejriwal for AAP’s landslide victory in Delhi. “My congratulations to Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi party for their victory. The people of Delhi have chosen AAP and we respect that. I wish Kejriwal and his team the very best,” Rahul said.
With the party now reduced to literally zero in Delhi now, questions were being raised on Rahul Gandhi's leadership and demand to bring in Priyanka Vadra grew shriller. A group of party supporters gathered outside the Congress office with placards reading "Ab to Congressiyon Maan Jao, Priyanka Ji ko lekar Aayo." Such demonstrations have also been held in the past but this time it was more vociferous given Congress' dwindling fortunes.
Even senior Congress leaders said time has come to introspect and restructure. Rajiv Shukla favoured "drastic steps" to revamp the party in wake of the unprecedented poll debacle in Delhi but steered clear of questions of bringing Priyanka to the fore. He said it was for the Gandhi family to take a call on this. "The results are disappointing. Drastic steps are needed to strengthen the party. Both BJP and Congress should learn lessons," Shukla said.
Former Union Minister Manish Tewari said the poll outcome could have been different had all the leaders participated in the election campaign. “If collectively everybody would have been pitched into the campaign, it would have possibly made a difference,” Tewari said. He also clarified that the setback for Congress could not be attributed to individuals and favoured revisiting the ideological construct.