Very disappointed with Congress performance in state polls: Sonia Gandhi

The Congress fared poorly in these elections, failing to win back Assam and Kerala and losing in Puducherry

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Friday said the party’s performance in the recently-concluded Assembly elections was “very disappointing” and said it would be reviewed at the meeting of the working committee shortly.

Congress sources said the meeting of the Congress Working Committee was likely to be held on Monday, May 10.

Addressing a meeting of the Congress Party in Parliament (CPP), Gandhi said the party must draw appropriate lessons from this setback in a spirit of “humility and honesty”.

In the recently-held Assembly elections, Congress failed to dislodge the BJP and the Left Democratic Front in Assam and Kerala respectively and drew a blank in West Bengal where it had allied with the Left Front against the ruling Trinamool Congress and BJP.

“Most unfortunately, our own performance in all the states was very disappointing and if I may say, unexpectedly so,” she said in a virtual meeting of the CPP to discuss the Covid-19 situation across the country.

“The CWC is meeting shortly to review the results, but it goes without saying that we as a party collective must draw the appropriate lessons from this setback in a spirit of humility and honesty,” Gandhi said.

At the meeting, a couple of MPs tried to raise the issue of the recent election results, but were told that the meeting was exclusively for Covid-19 situation.

After Delhi and Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal will be the third Assembly where the Congress does not have a single MLA.

A section of the leaders is upset at the failure of the Congress’s performance, particularly in Kerala and Assam where it was in direct contest with its opponents.

A section of the leaders was also unhappy with the decision to join the coalition with AIUDF in Assam and Indian Secular Front in West Bengal.

Congress had declared that it would study the results diligently and do appropriate course correction.

The party had refrained from commenting on the Assembly elections and instead chose to focus on dealing with the Covid-19 situation unfolding across the country.