Congress begins analysing reasons for poll defeat

After loss of face in the Lok Sabha elections, Congress has embarked on an elaborate exercise to analyse the reasons for its defeat.

Directions have been issued to state units to assess the election outcome from booth-level upwards and submit a report to the AICC by next week.

AICC General Secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is all set to embark on a two-day visit to Prayagraj on Friday to assess the performance of the Congress in the region under her command.

A similar meeting has been convened in Bhopal by the Madhya Pradesh unit of the Congress on Saturday where party leaders will deliberate on the performance of the party in the Lok Sabha elections.

Congress had managed to win just one of the 29 Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh as even its top leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia and Digvijaya Singh suffered humiliating defeat at the hands of fresh faces fielded by the BJP.

“I request you to submit an analysis of the recent Lok Sabha election results covering every booth in every Lok Sabha seat. Also, you are requested to send a report on the reasons for defeat of the Congress nominee in the assembly segments,” AICC General Secretary in-charge of Rajasthan Avinash Pande said in a letter to Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot.

Intra-party rivalry, an election campaign that failed to click with the voters, a high-pitched BJP campaign centered around Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personality and a surge of nationalism in the aftermath of the Balakot air strikes are some of the reasons cited by Congress leaders for its loss in the Lok Sabha elections.

Congress managed to win 52 seats against the BJP's 303 in the Lok Sabha elections that saw virtual decimation of the opposition. Congress President Rahul Gandhi faced a shock defeat in the family stronghold of Amethi, but managed a face saver win in Wayanad in Kerala, the second seat he had contested in the Lok Sabha elections.