CWC to Take Responsibility for Poll Debacle in 5 States, New Elections to be Announced Soon: Sources

Congress president Sonia Gandhi will chair a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Sunday to take stock of the poll debacle in the five states. Sources said the CWC will take responsibility for the party’s loss in the poll-bound states, and that dates for fresh elections could be announced soon. The grand old party has strongly refuted media reports claiming that Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi will resign on Sunday from the CWC.

The CWC meeting will be held in the AICC office at 4 pm. Before that, Sonia Gandhi will also chair a meeting of the party’s parliamentary strategy group on 10 Janpath at 10.30 am.

The top decision-making body has decided to meet after the grand old party received a drubbing in the assembly elections, losing Punjab to the AAP while registering a miniscule presence in the other four states.

Leaders of the G23, who have been demanding an organisational overhaul, also met late Friday at the residence of senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad to discuss their strategy ahead of the crucial CWC meeting.

Sunday’s meeting is likely to see some fireworks from the G23 as they had suggested corrective measures after the last round of assembly elections, when the party lost Puducherry and failed to make a mark in Kerala, Assam and West Bengal. But the high command had done little to nothing on that front.

According to sources, in their meeting on Friday, the G23 discussed that there should be no more delay in electing the new president of the party. It is necessary to fix the accountability for the poll debacle and urgent changes are required in the composition of the CWC, sources added.

The G23 leaders who met at Azad’s residence included senior Congress leaders Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari, Anand Sharma and Akhilesh Prasad Singh while some leaders joined virtually.

The results of the assembly elections in the five poll-bound states were declared on March 10. The BJP romped to power in four out of the five states, while the AAP delivered a massive upset by defeating the Congress in Punjab.

(With inputs from PTI and IANS)

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