Gandhi’s decision came two days after the CWC meet and is aimed at facilitating ‘reorganisation’ of the state units.
New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi Tuesday asked the party’s state unit chiefs in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand to tender their resignations in order to enable reorganisation of the party.
Earlier in the day, the Goa Congress President Girish Chodankar had resigned from his post after claiming responsibility for the party’s loss.
The Congress lost the recently concluded assembly elections in all five states. In a major setback for the party, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stormed to power in Punjab with a landslide 92 seats in the 117-member state assembly.
To ‘facilitate reorganisation’
“Congress President, Smt. Sonia Gandhi has asked the PCC Presidents of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa & Manipur to put in their resignations in order to facilitate reorganisation of PCC,” said Randeep Surjewala, general secretary in-charge of communication for the party.
The party, however, is yet to take a decision on the senior leaders who were made in-charges for the poll-going states, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who was the in-charge for Uttar Pradesh. Vadra Tuesday held an organisational meet with leaders of the UP Congress to introspect on the reasons for the party’s defeat in the state.
Ajay Lallu, president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee, had finished third in the seat (Tamukhi Raj ) he was contesting from.
Navjot Singh Sidhu, who leads Congress’ Punjab unit, had lost his Amritsar East seat. Sidhu has also been blamed as one of the reasons for the party’s loss in Punjab. Factionalism within the party is another reason that is said to have hurt the Congress’ prospects in Punjab.