Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi: Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday put up a brave face despite his party’s poor performance in the Assembly elections held in five states, including Uttar Pradesh.

Rahul, who had led the Congress’ campaign in Uttar Pradesh, said, “First of all, I congratulate Mulayam Singhji and Akhileshji, people of Uttar Pradesh supported them.”

“I had led the campaign, I was standing in the front, and it is my responsibility. We fought, fought hard but results are not encouraging,” he told reporters who had assembled outside his residence here.

“I had promised the people of UP that I will continue to be seen in the villages and cities of the state… with the farmers, with the poor… my work will continue. I will continue to work for UP,” he added.

“I will try to get the Congress stand up again in UP and (ensure) that we win one day,” Rahul said with a pause.

On the reasons behind the party’s poor performance, Rahul said, “Organisationally we are not where we should be in UP and generally there was a mood in favour of the Samajwadi Party, which is pretty apparent.”

He further opined that the fundamentals of Congress in UP are weak, saying, “We have to get the fundamentals correct. Yes there has been improvement from 2007 but we will have to take it forward.”

“We haven’t done well in the whole of UP; I view my work as working for the people of this country. I will continue to do that,” Rahul said, adding, “I expect victories along the way and I expect defeat too.”