Congress sources say Rahul Gandhi would be meeting all the 28 newly-elected party MLAs one by one during this review session.
The Uttar Pradesh Congress leadership will soon face a trial by fire over the party’s debacle in the recent assembly election.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has called a meeting at the party’s ‘war room’ in Delhi on Thursday and Friday for a stringent analysis of the reasons responsible for the party being virtually routed in the election. This would be the first time that the party leadership would be meeting the newly-elected MLAs.
Party insiders say that the leadership wants the party men at the meeting to be forthright to the point of being unforgiving. This could mean a tough time for state Congress leaders, especially the triumvirate of UP Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Congress Legislature Party leader Pramod Tiwari and Congress general secretary incharge of UP affairs Digvijay Singh. Besides, several senior party leaders ensconced in plum posts at the centre could also face the heat of this review.
Sources say Rahul Gandhi would be meeting all the 28 newly-elected party MLAs one by one during this review session. Besides, as many as 139 party candidates who lost despite getting more than 20,000 votes have also been invited for the meeting. The idea behind the meeting is to get a fair picture of why the Congress performed so badly at the hustings. “The party wants to learn a quick lesson in view of the upcoming civic elections in UP. Also, the findings will help us prepare in a better way for the Lok Sabha election which could be held earlier than scheduled,” said a senior party leader.
There are as many as 88 seats where Congress candidates got over 30,000 votes but still lost. Party nominees lost despite getting over 50,000 votes in 11 seats, and in five places, party candidates could not embrace victory even after getting over 70,000 votes. The party lost six seats with a margin of less than 5,000, and 16 seats with a margin of five to ten thousand. All these candidates would get an opportunity to speak their minds at the meeting.
All 22 party MPs from UP have also been invited to the review meeting. The open session could spell trouble for leaders like Beni Prasad Verma, Salman Khursheed and Sri Prakash Jaiswal who shot off controversial statements during the election campaign. Party insiders say the high command could take some tough decisions after this review session.
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