First family is still last word for loser Congress

Outgoing prime minister Manmohan Singh, during the meeting held at party headquarters in the capital, said, ‘We must accept our mistakes, but resignations are not the solution.’ He added, ‘I take responsibility of this defeat as far as government functioning is concerned.’ 

The CWC passed a unanimous resolution expressing full faith in the leadership of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.

‘They are the best leadership we have,’ said Amarinder Singh, on the CWC’s refusal to let the Gandhis quit their posts. ‘It was a collective responsibility,’ he added. Singh has emerged among few credible faces in the party, having managed to defeat the BJP’s Arun Jaitley from Amritsar. ‘The offer made by Sonia and Rahul to resign was unanimously rejected,’ he said.

While addressing the media after the meet, Congress general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said that the rivals polarised the electorate.

 ‘We were defeated despite doing good work,’ he said. ‘Results were extremely disappointing, but Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi resigning is not the solution,’ Dwivedi added. He said: ‘The CWC has authorised Congress president Sonia Gandhi to take whatever steps are necessary to revamp the party. ‘ The Congress leader, however, refused to comment on Rahul’s campaign which many have felt led to the party’s worst-ever performance.

Defending the top leadership, Sonia and Rahul, senior Congress leader Beni Prasad Verma said, ‘Why should they resign. It is a collective responsibility of the party.’ On similar lines senior Congress leader Oscar Fernandes said, ‘We will fight under Sonia and Rahul’s leadership and there is no question of retreating.’ Party spokesperson Raj Babbar added, ‘We will fight under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi.’

There were no major changes in the CWC, but it passed a resolution in which the communication strategy of the government in the run-up to the general elections was criticised. During the course of the meeting some Youth Congress workers were seen shouting slogans in support of Rahul Gandhi outside party headquarters.

In the current Lok Sabha elections, the Congress had managed a dismal number of 44 out of 543 seats, while the Opposition led by BJP leader and prime minister designate Narendra Modi managed to sweep the polls.