Congress now single largest party of losers

After a day-long wait, leaving the defence of the party to political interns, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi finally addressed media in the afternoon, owning responsibility for the debacle. The Congress has been reduced to double digits in parliament, its worst show ever. Forty three year old Rahul Gandhi, while congratulating the new government, said that he holds himself responsible. ‘Congress has done pretty badly, lot for us to think about. As vice-president, I hold myself responsible,’ he said.

Sonia said, ‘We accept this mandate. We expect that the new government will not compromise with the country’s secularism. I congratulate the new government. I thank all my workers and I take full responsibility for the defeat.’

In a complete humiliation for Rahul, earlier in the day, party workers surrounded party head quarters chanting slogans, ‘Bring Priyanka, Save Congress’. Party leaders denied this and said they would stick to the current leadership. So dismal is the performance that Congress will not be recognised as opposition block despite being the largest non-NDA party as it failed to win 10 percent of the Lok Sabha seats to obtain the status that is 54 seats. Earlier, party leaders had said they were ready to sit in Opposition but with such a pathetic performance even that won’t be recognised.