A shell-shocked Congress was trying to come to terms with the electoral rout in the Assembly polls — barring in Puducherry — as the results came in on Thursday.
Predictably, its spokespersons threw a protective ring around party chief Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi, stressing that they cannot be held responsible for the defeats in Assam and Kerala and the poor showing in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. And not surprisingly, the issue of Rahul Gandhi’s elevation surfaced once again.
“We accept the verdict of people with humility,” Mr. Gandhi tweeted. Ms Gandhi in a statement said, “We will introspect into the reasons for our loss and will rededicate ourselves to the service of the people with greater vigour.” This, party sources said, sets the stage for a post mortem, whose form will be announced soon.
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As in the past, the Congress’s poor performance has thrown up the question whether it would once again delay the timing of Mr. Gandhi’s elevation as president.
“The wish of the Congress workers and leaders is that Rahulji should take over. The process of his elevation cannot be stopped,” party general secretary P.C. Chacko said.
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Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor said the Congress needs to “move beyond this clichéd introspection business into some serious action.” He, of course, added that the Gandhis cannot be held accountable for the Congress’s debacle.
“All State elections are not a referendum on national leadership. There are local issues involved,” he said.
Privately, there are two views on the elevation of Mr. Gandhi: while one functionary told The Hindu that Mr. Gandhi would take over “sooner than you think,” another hedged his bets, saying, “Nothing is decided yet.”