Ahead of the crucial meeting to evaluate the party's performance in the recent Rajasthan assembly polls, Congress leader and Rajasthan caretaker Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday criticized the BJP's delay in announcing Chief Minister faces for three Hindi heartland states -- Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, saying that "there is no discipline in this party."
"There is no discipline in this party. If we had done the same, I don't know what allegations they would have levelled against us and misled people. They polarized the polls... We will cooperate with the new government," he said while speaking to ANI.
Mr Gehlot, who is in Delhi to take part in a meeting to review the party's performance in recently held assembly polls in Rajasthan, also commented on the delay in announcing the Rajasthan BJP Chief Minister face, saying, "If Congress had not selected a CM for this long, then they (BJP) would have shouted a lot."
"In the Gogamedi case, I had to sign a document stating 'no objection' to an NIA probe. This should have been done by the new Chief Minister. For seven days now, they (BJP) have not been able to select a Chief Minister; I want them to take a decision quickly," he said while speaking to reporters.
Gehlot further accused the BJP of winning the assembly election in the state by raising religious issues and polarizing people.
"They polarized the polls; they brought issues like triple talaq, the abrogation of Article 370, the Kanhaiya Lal murder, and propagated lies that Muslims were given 50 lakhs and Hindus only 5 lakhs. They won the election by spreading lies," said Gehlot. However, he added that they would cooperate with the new government.
Meanwhile, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and party MP Rahul Gandhi have arrived at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in Delhi for the key meeting to assess the party's performance in the recent Rajasthan assembly polls.
Rajasthan Congress leader Govind Singh Dotasra has also arrived in Delhi to take part in the meeting. He expressed the party's focus on analyzing shortcomings and making corrections for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. "We will deliberate on the reasons behind why we could return to power in the state. We will analyze our shortcomings and make corrections for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections," he said.
Congress brass on Friday held separate meetings to review the party's losses in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh and sought a detailed report from state unit chiefs on its dismal performance in the recent round of assembly elections, party leaders said. The meeting was convened by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge at the AICC headquarters in Delhi, where former party chief Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders were also present.
The election results in four states, especially the losses in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, came as a huge blow to the Congress's hopes for 2024, as it is now out of power across a vast swathe of the Hindi heartland. In Rajasthan, the vote count painted a starkly different picture to what some of the pollsters had predicted, with the BJP poised to form the government, winning 115 seats, and the Congress trailing at 69 seats.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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