Akhilesh Prasad Singh said that he had requested an appointment with Rahul Gandhi to discuss the way forward.
New Delhi:
The big mistake of the Congress in Bihar was choosing the wrong seats to compete, said today a leader in charge of the party’s campaign in the state amid a bitter back and forth over electoral defeat.
Akhilesh Prasad Singh, responsible for the defeat of Bihar, said that he had requested an appointment with Rahul Gandhi to discuss the way forward.
“The choice of seats by Congress was wrong. There should have been a more in-depth analysis before the decision, but eventually the party acted hastily,” Singh told NDTV.
“I accept responsibility for the defeat in the Bihar elections. I have asked to meet with Rahul Gandhi. I will tell him that the weaknesses of the organization need to be addressed and honed,” he said.
He said Congress needed to introduce massive organizational changes to win any state election. “There are weaknesses in the party, especially at the block and district level,” said the congressional leader.
This is the latest assessment to emerge in the congressional public dispute over the Bihar debacle.
It began with Kapil Sibal, in an interview with the Indian Express, reliving a call for major organizational changes to halt the decline of the Congress party and calling for “experienced minds, experienced hands, and those who understand political realities” to bring about transformation.
Another former Union minister, P. Chidambaram, commented that the results from Bihar and secondary polls showed that Congress either had no organizational presence on the ground or had been considerably weakened.
Mr. Chidambaram also pointed out the wrong choice of seats. “I feel like Congress contested more seats than its organizational strength. Congress received 25 seats where the BJP or its allies had been winning for 20 years. Congress should have refused to compete for these seats. The party should have run only 45 candidates. (instead of 70), “he had told the Dainik Bhaskar.
Akhilesh Prasad Singh, responding to the comments, said: “I respect Kapil Sibal. He is an informed politician. But it is not correct to give such an analysis about the defeat after the results.”
Congress faces attacks from allies and scathing autopsies after its poor tally in Bihar was blamed for the opposition falling a few seats from victory. The party also failed to score in crucial by-elections, especially in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and UP.
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