Poll debacle: Ignored G-23 of Cong likely to convene meeting

New Delhi, March 10 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Congress' disgruntled group is likely to convene a meeting on Saturday or Sunday to discuss the poll results as the leaders are upset with the party's performance in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur.

The G-23 group has been sidelined in the party since they raised the issue of reforms in the Congress and election for the top post.

Some G-23 leaders whom the IANS contacted refused to speak during the day after results -- that turned out to be disappointing, were declared, and said that they will formalise a strategy.

The group admits that the people have lost confidence in Rahul Gandhi, and his team as since 2019, his team has failed him, and now Priyanka Gandhi's team has also failed to perform.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said that they will analyse the poll loss.

This is not the first loss. The party has already lost crucial polls in Kerala and Assam where the party could have won.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor tweeted: "All of us who believe in @INCIndia are hurting from the results of the recent assembly elections. It is time to reaffirm the idea of India that the Congress has stood for and the positive agenda it offers the nation

"And to reform our organisational leadership in a manner that will re-ignite those ideas and inspire the people. One thing is clear - Change is unavoidable if we need to succeed."

Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said he accepted the people's verdict and congratulated the winning parties.

"Humbly accept the people's verdict. Best wishes to those who have won the mandate. My gratitude to all Congress workers and volunteers for their hard work and dedication. We will learn from this and keep working for the interests of the people of India," he tweeted after the results were announced.

The disgruntled group has pointed fingers at the teams and leadership of Rahul and Priyanka.

Rahul Gandhi's team of K.C. Venugopal, Randeep Surjewala and the state in-charges could not deliver the states which went for polls.

The seasoned leaders have been ignored.

Similarly, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's reliance on Sandeep Singh, Ajay Kumar Lallu and Mona Mishra has failed to fetch any good performance.

In Uttarakhand, which had the "tradition" of changing government every five years, the Congress failed to make a repeat.

In the beginning, state in-charge Devendra Yadav could not manage the factions and later sent senior leaders but precious time was lost in all this.

The party appeared to be divided into two sub-parties, who were unwilling to work in tandem.

In Goa, the trio of state in-charges -- Dinesh Gundu Rao, Girish Chodankar (the state President) and Digambar Kamat (the former Chief Minister) ignored the state leaders like Luizinho Falerio, who left to join Trinamool and leaders like Francisco Sardinha were sidelined and even P. Chidambaram, who was senior observer could not choose the right candidates.

In Punjab, the operation done by Rahul and Priyanka did not deliver the desired results and the last minute gamble played by the party in making Charanjit Singh Channi, a Scheduled Caste Chief Minister did not pay well. In the end, the Aam Aadmi Party emerged the winner.

Also, senior leaders like Ajay Maken and Harish Chaudhary have only added problems to the party's not so comfortable situation ahead of the polls by ignoring party MPs during the campaign, which seems to have backfired.

Source: IANS