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Rahul takes stock of UP poll debacle
Vibha Sharma/TNS

New Delhi, April 5
Rahul Gandhi today began a review of the Congress’s performance in Uttar Pradesh following its dismal performance in the Assembly elections.

The stock-taking exercise took place in what is termed as the party war room.

Party candidates who received more than 20,000 votes were given a set of 13 questions. The queries ranged from reasons for losing, the degree of support they received from the state, central leaders, Mahila Congress and Sewa Dal, suggestions for future electoral strategy and how the party could fare better in the local body elections.

Many candidates, it is understood, told Rahul that weak party organisation at the grassroots level, damaging statements made by senior leaders like Salman Khursheed, Beni Prasad Verma and Sri Prakash Jaiswal, lack of cooperation from MPs and coordination with ministers from the state and late distribution of ticket were the reasons that did the party in.

Apart from a series of faux pas by senior party leaders, including Union ministers speaking in different voices, squabbles at higher party level also damaged the party’s prospects, they said.

The two-day exercise is part of Rahul’s attempt to set Congress’ house in order in UP, a state where the party had hoped to make big gains in 2012 Assembly elections. Sources said the exercise was also meant to spot potential winners from among the candidates who polled over 20,000 votes.

While the exercise was also blatantly used by some candidates to blame others for their poor show, sources said Rahul’s main aim was to iron out problems ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha poll. “While he wants to analyse with partymen what went wrong despite him leading the party from the front, he also wants to fix things while there is time for 2014,” they said. While candidates who did not suffer a humiliating defeat and either came on the second or third positions were consulted today, tomorrow those who managed to make it to Lucknow have been called.

This is the first formal review meeting of the UP poll by Rahul, who has owned responsibility for the defeat. While the party managed to secure 22 of the 80 seats in 2009 Lok Sabha elections in the state, a performance that was seen as a revival of the organisation, his Mission UP 2012 collapsed with Congress managing to win only 28 of 403 seats, just six more than it had in the Assembly elections of 2007.