Congress loses its last big bastion Punjab, here's what went wrong for the party

The dry run for Congress party in elections, which started in 2014, continues with losing the last big bastion of Punjab today. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) did the impossible task of defeating the Congress party in its own turf.

While winning Uttar Pradesh was a distant dream for the Congress, it could not even manage a comeback in Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, where the BJP took comfortable leads despite exit poll predictions of close fights. The party is losing at least half of its vote share in Punjab.

With each election loss, India's oldest party reaches a new lowest point and this time it managed to do so once again. In Uttar Pradesh, the Congress party had to settle down for a distant fourth. Here the BJP is headed for a landslide win. 

Read | Who is AAP's Ajit Pal Singh Kohli, the man who trumped Maharaja of Patiala, Captain Amarinder Singh?

"In Punjab, Congres presented a new leadership through Charanjit Singh Channi who is son of the soil, but the entire anti-incumbency of 4.5 years under Captain Amarinder Singh could not be overcome and hence people voted for AAP for change," Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said.

Not just political pundits but now even party insiders are talking of revamp. Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi had earlier talked about a 'revamp and rewiring' of the party. "If we lose in all five states, then we have to think about a revamp and rewiring for the party," Singhvi had said.

Even its top leadership in Punjab could not retain their seats. Former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi lost the election from both Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur seats. While in Bhadaur he lost to Aam Aadmi Party's Labh Singh Ugoke, in Chamkaur Sahib he lost to his nearest rival from the Aam Aadmi Party with a similar name, Charanjit Singh.

Read | AAP wins Punjab: Arvind Kejriwal ready for national expansion, 10 points

One of the biggest upsets this election is state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu's loss in Amritsar East, where there was a high-profile contest with Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia.

Wracked by infighting, the Congress went into self-destruct mode in Punjab, replacing its Chief Minister just four months before the very important Assembly elections. And now the results show what went wrong for them.

In the apt words of the Congress leader Shama Mohammad, "In Punjab, it is our own doing. We could have held on, but we went wrong." Well, what has been done cannot be undone, but this is the right time for introspection as to how the party should revamp to save itself from extinction.