New Delhi: Stung by the Congress' disastrous performance in this week's Assembly elections, party president Sonia Gandhi is setting her house in order post haste. NDTV has learnt that Mrs Gandhi wants to fix accountability and several big heads could roll soon. Uttar Pradesh is a worry and the state's Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi is meeting Mrs Gandhi in New Delhi.
"We will have to sit down and look at the situation and the results in every single state. And then together work out a plan to correct the mistakes which we made," said Mrs Gandhi two days ago, when she made a rare appearance to explain the Congress' poll debacle and answer many tricky questions. Before that, she individually met senior party leaders. Mrs Gandhi did not sugar coat her words, nor did she make excuses when forced to admit that in crucial UP, where her son Rahul Gandhi staked political credibility, a weak party organisation and a wrong choice of candidates leading to much rebellion, did the party in.
Punjab should have been a sitter for the Congress. Instead, it handed the state and a place in history to the Shiromani Akali Dal which became the first party in 45 years to be returned to power by voters. Wrong candidate selection by the Congress cost it the important state. In Uttarakhand, deep factionalism has left the party struggling short of majority. And, sources say, the Congress president is especially upset with the Goa results since the Congress-NCP government was seen to be backed by the mining mafia and criminals. The BJP won that election comfortably.
From UP, Rita Bahuguna Joshi's resignation has preceded her to Delhi. Yesterday, the UP Congress leader said that local leaders had sabotaged the elections. "There is a lot of sabotage within the party. The local leaders acted very irresponsibly. The candidates have not been connecting with the people, I have full information. We have started collecting records of this and I will meet Sonia Gandhi tomorrow in Delhi," Mrs Joshi said.
Among the resignation letters that have made their way to Mrs Gandhi is reportedly that of Digvijaya Singh, the veteran Congressman who had charge of the UP elections. Sources say it has not been accepted yet. Mrs Gandhi, they say, is clear that one individual alone could not have been responsible.
The Congress' Sultanpur MP Sanjay Singh and his wife Ameeta, who was the party candidate from the Amethi assembly seat, wasted no time in saying that that there were deep divisions within the party. Ameeta lost her election and candidly said, "I believe that coming from the era of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, then Mrs Gandhi, followed by Rajiv Gandhi and then Mrs Sonia Gandhi, and now Rahul Gandhi, times are changing. And if we talk about this legacy of this family then Mulayam Singh also has a legacy. But his daughter-in-law lost the election two years back. And in his own hometown." Her husband said, "Neither the party, nor the candidates wanted me to campaign. So I didn't go."
Three days ago, at his mother's home at 10 Janpath in Delhi, Rahul Gandhi, bearded and in a white kurta pyjama, delivered a simple and honest analysis of his party's disastrous performance and his own role in Uttar Pradesh. "I led the campaign, so it is my responsibility," he said.
"We will have to sit down and look at the situation and the results in every single state. And then together work out a plan to correct the mistakes which we made," said Mrs Gandhi two days ago, when she made a rare appearance to explain the Congress' poll debacle and answer many tricky questions. Before that, she individually met senior party leaders. Mrs Gandhi did not sugar coat her words, nor did she make excuses when forced to admit that in crucial UP, where her son Rahul Gandhi staked political credibility, a weak party organisation and a wrong choice of candidates leading to much rebellion, did the party in.
Punjab should have been a sitter for the Congress. Instead, it handed the state and a place in history to the Shiromani Akali Dal which became the first party in 45 years to be returned to power by voters. Wrong candidate selection by the Congress cost it the important state. In Uttarakhand, deep factionalism has left the party struggling short of majority. And, sources say, the Congress president is especially upset with the Goa results since the Congress-NCP government was seen to be backed by the mining mafia and criminals. The BJP won that election comfortably.
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From UP, Rita Bahuguna Joshi's resignation has preceded her to Delhi. Yesterday, the UP Congress leader said that local leaders had sabotaged the elections. "There is a lot of sabotage within the party. The local leaders acted very irresponsibly. The candidates have not been connecting with the people, I have full information. We have started collecting records of this and I will meet Sonia Gandhi tomorrow in Delhi," Mrs Joshi said.
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Among the resignation letters that have made their way to Mrs Gandhi is reportedly that of Digvijaya Singh, the veteran Congressman who had charge of the UP elections. Sources say it has not been accepted yet. Mrs Gandhi, they say, is clear that one individual alone could not have been responsible.
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The Congress' Sultanpur MP Sanjay Singh and his wife Ameeta, who was the party candidate from the Amethi assembly seat, wasted no time in saying that that there were deep divisions within the party. Ameeta lost her election and candidly said, "I believe that coming from the era of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, then Mrs Gandhi, followed by Rajiv Gandhi and then Mrs Sonia Gandhi, and now Rahul Gandhi, times are changing. And if we talk about this legacy of this family then Mulayam Singh also has a legacy. But his daughter-in-law lost the election two years back. And in his own hometown." Her husband said, "Neither the party, nor the candidates wanted me to campaign. So I didn't go."
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Three days ago, at his mother's home at 10 Janpath in Delhi, Rahul Gandhi, bearded and in a white kurta pyjama, delivered a simple and honest analysis of his party's disastrous performance and his own role in Uttar Pradesh. "I led the campaign, so it is my responsibility," he said.
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