Results not bad, but party little down, says Rahul Gandhi

After the drubbing at the hands of the BJP in the recently-concluded Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Assembly elections, Congress vice-resident Rahul Gandhi called for structural changes in the party. He broke his silence on Tuesday and stressed that the results were “not bad” though the party was “a little down” in Uttar Pradesh.

It was the grand old party’s worst performance in Uttar Pradesh where it could only manage 7 out of the 403 assembly seats even after a pre-poll tie-up with the ruling Samajwadi Party.

Mr Gandhi alleged that the success of the BJP was largely due to polarisation of voters. Earlier, he joined the chorus of party leaders denouncing the BJP, accusing the saffron party of “undermining democracy” in Goa and Manipur by use of money power.

“They are saying that it is okay for them to misuse the office of the Governor...In the two states where we won, democracy has been undermined by them (BJP) using financial power, money. That is what is happening. The mandate of the people of Goa and Manipur has been stolen by the BJP,” he said.

Talking to mediapersons about questions about his leadership after the poll debacle, he called for initiating changes within, and hailed the role of regional leaders who fought and emerged victorious. He said, “As far as the Congress party is concerned, we do need to make structural and organisational changes and that is a fact.”

“That is not a bad result. It is true that we lost the election in UP and Uttarakhand,” he said. There are “ups and down” for every party, Mr Gandhi said, adding, “We had a little down in UP which is fine, we accept it. But we have an ideological fight with the BJP and we will continue to do that.”

Several senior leaders of the Congress have already started demanding accountability to be fixed for the poll debacle.