The Congress on Monday reviewed the party’s dismal performance in the Assembly elections at a meeting of its Parliamentary Strategy Group at Sonia Gandhi’s residence. The party said the outcome of the polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh was disappointing but the party was not dispirited or dejected.
”We accept the verdict. It fell far below our expectations, we are analysing these details…our resolve remains undiminished. We will fight even harder,” Congress General Secretary and in-charge Communications Jairam Ramesh said at a briefing after the meeting.
He said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has called an informal meeting of INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) on Wednesday and a formal meeting of the Opposition bloc might be held later.
Referring to the meeting convened by Gandhi, Ramesh, who is the Congress MP in Rajya Sabha, said: “Today evening, the Bills that the government will bring (during the Winter Session of Parliament) and the issues on which we want discussion were discussed at length.”
“We will openly oppose the Bills on which we have objections. But, we will definitely take part in the debate,” he said.
Kharge, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, held a meeting of the INDIA bloc leaders to chalk out the strategy for the Winter Session of the Parliament.
Apart from Gandhi, who is the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) and Kharge, the meeting was attended by party MPs P Chidambaram, KC Venugopal and Shashi Tharoor, among others.
In the assembly polls held in five states – Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telnagna and Mizoram – the Congress registered victory only in Telangana.