The Congress on Tuesday appeared reconciled to its drubbing in the Delhi Assembly elections. Trends from the Election Commission’s website showed the party leading in zero of the 70 seats, continuing its performance from the 2015 elections. The party’s vote share also dipped, settling around 4% at 1 pm.
An official statement by Congress Chief Spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the people of Delhi have voted against the party. “We accept it with all humility,” the party said. “The resolve to reinvigorate the Congress party at the ground level is further strengthened today. We thank all Congress workers and leaders for the hard work.”
Surjewala said that it was clear from the preliminary results that the Aam Aadmi Party has won, and wished Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal all the best. “At the same time, we also promise the people of Delhi a positive support,” he said.
Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said he was happy to the extent that the Bharatiya Janata Party was not winning the Delhi polls, NDTV reported. Trends showed the BJP ahead in just 13 seats, and the incumbent Aam Aadmi Party in 57. “AAP’s victory is less disappointing to me,” he said. “AAP has done some good work in education.” Singhvi said the Congress sorely misses the persona of former three-time Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who died last year.
Congress Spokesperson Sanjay Jha, asked whether former party chief Rahul Gandhi’s narrative has flopped, said that the party has been unable to resolve its leadership problems, which will now demoralise the workers. “We are letting the party down by not being decisive,” he said. “There cannot be a better time for Congress to come back.”
Congress state chief Subhash Chopra took moral responsibility for the defeat. Party leader Sandeep Dikshit said on Monday that he knew the party was losing the polls as early as September last year. “I believe the Congress will perform very badly. I knew it from September itself,” he told ANI. Dikshit alleged that the people in charge of the Congress in Delhi had been lax in their performance. He blamed “two-three people” from the party for ruining its chances in the polls, but did not specify who he meant.
Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the Delhi polls were a fight between a “giant” and a “pygmy”, referring to BJP and AAP. “The common people have decided they will choose either BJP or AAP,” he said. “It’s a vote for the development agenda. The entire government, along with all its entire machinery, had been deployed in Delhi to win this election. From PM to grassroots workers, it’s been a fight between a giant and a pygmy and the pygmy has won.”
Congress leader Kirti Azad accepted the result and said the party’s strength would be seen in the upcoming municipal elections. “We will again strengthen the Congress at the ground level,” he said. “We will continue to work for unity and integrity of the country. We do not discriminate, this has been the tradition of Congress.”
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