After Congress scores zero in Assembly polls, PC Chako resigns as Delhi chief

A day after his party suffered a humiliating defeat in the Assembly elections, Delhi Congress chief P C Chako on Wednesday tendered his resignation to the top leadership. The Congress failed to get even a single seat in the 70-member House and saw its vote share drop from 9 per cent in the 2015 Assembly elections to 4.26 per cent this time. In fact, this was their lowest vote share since the first state election in 1993.

In all 70 seats, the party did not even manage to place second. Prior to AAP's victory in 2013, Congress had governed the state for 15 years.

"The downfall of the Congress party started in 2013 when Sheila Dikshit ji was the chief minister. The emergence of a new party, AAP, took away the entire Congress vote bank. We could never get it back. It still remains with AAP," Chako had told news agency ANI earlier in the day.

Congress leaders have blamed the party's defeat on several reasons including lack of leadership, dwindling party cadre, infighting, lack of strategy and its continuous criticism of AAP and BJP.

Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala Tuesday said the party would induct new leaders. "People's mandate is against us, we accept it… This is a matter of concern and needs evaluation. The Congress and its Delhi unit have decided to redraw from the grassroots and bring in newer, fresher leadership," said later.

(Inputs from theindianexpress)