NewDelhi: After a bitterly fought election campaign in Gujarat, where his party was emerged second to Bhartiya Janata Party, Congress President Rahul Gandhi will reach Ahmedabad on Wednesday for a three-day review meeting of the party. Several senior Congress leaders are expected to take part in the meeting as well.
The main objective of the meeting is expected to be scrutinising the results of the Gujarat assembly elections. Despite not being in power here for 22 years, Congress managed to put up a better show than most expected – even though the final outcome went against it. Congress won 80 seats as against BJP’s 99 in the 182-seat assembly.
While BJP has termed the win a celebration of development in the state, Rahul Gandhi too may not be too perturbed. On Tuesday, he said his party had campaigned with dignity. “My Congress brothers and sisters, you have made me very proud. You are different than those you fought because you fought anger with dignity. You have demonstrated to everyone that the Congress’s greatest strength is its decency and courage,” he wrote on Twitter.
BJP though has accused Congress of taking the political discourse to new lows. Amit Shah, BJP chief, in particular attacked senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi neech. Others like Union Minister Smriti Irani said that the ‘stunt’ of visiting temples did not work for Rahul Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi had taken part in 30 rallies across the state and had visited 11 temples in the run-up to the elections which were conducted in two phases. He began the campaign as the party’s Vice-President before taking over the top post from his mother Sonia Gandhi. Now, the President is expected to take stock of all that went wrong in the Gujarat polls, and possibly assess what may have worked as well.
Bureau Report
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