Congress workers demoralised

The Congress’ rout in Maharashtra and Haryana has left its workers demoralised ahead of the elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand and possibly Delhi in the near future.

Tongues have started wagging in the Congress over the failure of the leadership to take corrective steps after its dismal performance in the Lok Sabha elections.

A section in the AICC also felt that the young brigade, claiming allegiance to Rahul Gandhi, had left Congress veterans antagonised by the recent bout of activism, perhaps making them unenthusiastic participants in the election exercise. The first views of the defeat are expected to be heard on Monday at a meeting of AICC general secretaries to discuss organisational elections to be set in motion early next year.

The isolation of the Congress was complete with its ally of 15 years, NCP, declaring support to the BJP which has fallen short of numbers in Maharashtra. Congress leaders said they were awaiting the action plan for the party from the leadership to pursue future challenges. With the loss of economic power houses Maharashtra and Haryana, the Congress is left with governments in Karnataka, Kerala, hill states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and a couple of states in the northeast.

There was no immediate word from the Congress on any meeting to analyse the reasons for the defeat. AICC general secretary Shakeel Ahmed, who is in-charge of party affairs in Haryana, merely said the party’s performance was “below expectations” and the leadership would analyse the same.

Putting up a brave face, Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the party would overcome the poll reversals. He felt the Congress could have done better had it contested the elections in alliance with the NCP.