'Need to draw lessons from serious setbacks in polls, put house in order'

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday said the party has to take note of its serious setbacks in assembly polls and face the reality to draw the right lessons and put its house in orderAddressing a crucial meeting of the Congress Working Committee CWC Gandhi said she intends to set up a small group to look at every aspect that caused such reverses and come back with its findingsThe meeting of the top Congress body has been convened to deliberate and introspect on the partys poor performance in the justconcluded assembly elections The Congress fared poorly drawing a blank in West Bengal and failing to win back power in Kerala and Assam besides losing Puducherry The party only came to power with the help of its ally DMK in Tamil NaduWe have to take note of our serious setbacks To say that we are deeply disappointed is to make an understatement I intend to set up a small group to look at every aspect that caused such reverses and report back very quickly she told the meeting in her inaugural addressGandhi said the party needs to candidly understand why in Kerala and Assam we failed to dislodge the incumbent governments and why in West Bengal we drew a complete blank These will yield uncomfortable lessons but if we do not face up to the reality if we do not look the facts in the face we will not draw the right lessons she noted The Congress chief asked the party general secretaries and incharges of states where it lost to spell out clearly and frankly the reasons for the partys defeatI expect them to brief us very frankly on our performance in their respective states We want them to tell us why we performed well below expectation These results tell us clearly that we need to put our house in order she said Gandhi also said that the schedule to elect the new Congress president would also be discussed at the meeting She also hit out at the Modi government over the handling of the pandemic situationDuring the meeting chief ministers of Congressruled states of Rajasthan Punjab and Chhattisgarh gave an account of the Covid19 situation in their states and steps being taken to contain the virusNoting that the Covid19 situation has become even more catastrophic in the past four weeks she said Governance failures have become even more stark Scientific advice has been willfully ignored and the country is paying a horrendous price for the Modi governments neglect of the pandemic indeed its willful patronage of superspreader events that were allowed for partisan gains Gandhi noted that a far deadlier second wave has now overwhelmed us and some scientists have now cautioned about a third wave overtaking us soon The public health system across the country has all but collapsed Vaccination coverage is woefully short of need and not expanding at the rate at which it must The Modi government has abdicated its responsibility she allegedGandhi said states are made to bear the cost of vaccinating millions in the 18 to 45 age group while experts have said it would have been financially more equitable for the Centre to bear the costs But we know the Modi government has other priorities pursuing grandiose projects against the force of public opinion and the face of widespread criticism It is also a shame that the Central government continues to discriminate against Oppositionruled states she allegedThe Congress chief also said the international community has rushed to Indias assistance and such a position reflects the monumental arrogance incompetence and vain triumphalism of the ruling establishmentGandhi said the AICCs Covid19 control room has prepared a detailed blueprint and similar Covid19 relief control rooms have been set up at the State level as she called for better coordination to make relief efforts more effectiveWe are in an unprecedented public health emergency We have repeatedly urged the Modi government to call an allparty meeting to demonstrate national will and resolve she said adding that the single most important need is to rapidly expand vaccination coverage and ensure that no eligible citizen gets left outThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever