Assembly election results a wakeup call for major political parties: Congress

Congress` Janardan Dwivedi while conceding defeat in assembly elections said there were lots of elements that factored in loss and Rahul Gandhi was not anxious to be PM.

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi while conceding defeat in the Assembly elections on Sunday said there were lots of elements that factored in his party’s loss and this result should serve as a wakeup call for major political parties. Dwivedi said he didn’t the emergence of debutant Aam Aadmi Party`s (AAP) performance in Delhi polls as a threat to the democratic process, and said, “I don`t consider this a threat to democracy…this is a positive development. But this verdict is also a wake-up call to all major political parties.” When asked if Congress would support AAP against its arch-rivals, the Bharatiya Janata Party, Dwivedi said it was too early to comment. “Congress won’t jump to conclusions so fast,” he said. Many saw the Assembly elections as a ‘semi-final’ in the run up to 2014 general elections, but Dwivedi felt both the two polls were a different kettle of fish. He said, “We don`t see it as a semi-final. Issues are different at national level election and assembly elections.” Conceding defeat in Delhi he said that the party had been on back-foot ever since tickets were distributed to hopefuls. He avers, “Here (in Delhi) we made mistakes even at the time of distributing tickets. We will take stock and correct the mistakes.” Dwelling on losses, he felt miscommunication between workers and what was communicated as party’s official word hurt Congress’ chances. “Agree that we were making mistakes in organizational level. In Rajasthan spoke in different voices,” he said. And added, “Whosoever thought it was apt kept speaking on behalf of party because of which a lot of miscommunication happened.” In Rajasthan he said there was a lot of negativity within Congress’ own ranks. “Before elections there were people in party that said we will not even cross 50 seats in Rajasthan, this is not good,” Dwivedi said. When asked if Rahul Gandhi would replace Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister in the run up to polls, a miffed Dwivedi said, “Does it seem to you like Rahul Gandhi is anxious to be PM?”