To revitalise the party in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress on Thursday started a 2-day brainstorming session here. It is discussing its bitter defeat in the recent Assembly polls despite a high-profile campaign led by party General Secretary, Mr Rahul Gandhi.

The session, being chaired by Mr Gandhi, is reviewing the organisational issues in the politically important State.

Apart from party candidates who got more than 20,000 votes, all Congress MLAs and a few MPs have been invited for the session.

The Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, had mentioned that her party had too many leaders and, perhaps, that could be one reason for the defeat. Taking responsibility, Mr Gandhi had said he would continue to be seen in the State.

A Congress MP said, “Compared to the last Assembly elections, we have improved our position in terms of vote share. But we could not match the campaign led by (Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister) Mr Akhilesh Yadav.”

Party sources said laxity of State-level and district-level leaders were being pointed out as a key reason for the defeat. There was criticism of MPs and even of certain Union ministers for their inability to provide organisational help. Key strategists of the party in the State, Mr Digvijaya Singh and Mr Mohan Prakash, are not attending the two-day session.

A functionary who attended Thursday's session said though the party had actively taken up issues of the weaker sections, particularly weavers, they did not turn into votes. “We failed in selecting better candidates,” he said, and added that the Centre's indifference to weavers was a tool for the opponents. “The announced schemes for weavers are yet to reach them,” he added.

jigeesh.am@thehindu.co.in

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