Cong needs to learn from poll setbacks: Sonia Gandhi

New Delhi Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday said the party has to take note of its serious setbacks in assembly polls, and face the reality to draw the right lessons and put its house in order. Addressing a crucial meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), Gandhi said she intends to set up a small group to look at every aspect that caused such reverses and come back with its findings. The meeting of the top Congress body has been convened to deliberate and introspect on the party's poor performance in the just-concluded assembly elections.

The Congress fared poorly, drawing a blank in West Bengal and failing to win back power in Kerala and Assam, besides losing Puducherry. The party only came to power with the help of its ally DMK in Tamil Nadu. "We have to take note of our serious setbacks. To say that we are deeply disappointed is to make an understatement. I intend to set up a small group to look at every aspect that caused such reverses and report back very quickly," she told the meeting in her inaugural address. Gandhi said the party needs to candidly understand "why in Kerala and Assam we failed to dislodge the incumbent governments, and why in West Bengal we drew a complete blank".

"These will yield uncomfortable lessons, but if we do not face up to the reality, if we do not look the facts in the face, we will not draw the right lessons," she noted. The Congress chief asked the party general secretaries and in-charges of states where it lost to spell out clearly and frankly the reasons for the party's defeat. "I expect them to brief us very frankly on our performance in their respective states. We want them to tell us why we performed well below expectation. These results tell us clearly that we need to put our house in order," she said.

Gandhi also said that the schedule to elect the new Congress president would also be discussed at the meeting.

She also hit out at the Modi government over the handling of the pandemic situation. During the meeting, chief ministers of Congress-ruled states of Rajasthan, Punjab and Chhattisgarh gave an account of the Covid situation in their states and steps being taken to contain the virus.