The Congress MP said the party may have underestimated the impact of national security as an electoral topic on the psyche of the voter in North India where the BJP had great success in trying to convert the election into a "khaki' referendum".
Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury while making these points however, spoke out against any need for change in the top leadership of the party, stating that both Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi have been 'trying wholeheartedly'.
With the party still licking the wounds of electoral debacle, a senior Congress leader on Wednesday said that much attention was not given to the organisation when it was in power.
Chhagan Bhujbal, Jayant Patil (both from the NCP), Balasaheb Thorat and Nitin Raut (both from the Congress), Eknath Shinde and Subhash Desai (both from the Sena) took oath as ministers along with Thackeray.
In a not-so-veiled remarks targeted at Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, senior leader A R Antulay has squarely blamed the Congress high command for the situation the party finds itself at present
BJP ally says common man will respond appropriately if promises made are not fulfilled.
'Delhi 2015 is a warning of an intensifying nightmare in the offing.'
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Monday alleged that use of money, muscle power and misuse of official machinery by the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam were responsible for the party's worst-ever performance in the recent Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu, where it drew a blank.
With the ignominy of a duck in Delhi, the free-fall in Congress' fortunes under Rahul Gandhi continued unabated with possibly grim forebodings for the grand old party.
Former Congress Working Committee member Jagmit Singh Brar created a flutter with his remarks that there was "no harm" if Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi take a two-year break in the wake of Lok Sabha poll debacle.
The Congress on Monday deferred the election to the post of party president till the COVID-19 situation improves and decided to set up a group to assess losses in the recent assembly polls, with party chief Sonia Gandhi saying it has to put its house in order by facing reality and drawing lessons from the 'serious setbacks'.
The development came just days after West Bengal Left Front chairman and CPI-M Politburo member Biman Bose in a change of stance had said the party is ready to join hands with Trinamool Congress to fight the BJP at the national level.
The ambit of the G-23 grouping increased this time as some more leaders -- Patiala MP Preneet Kaur, former Gujarat chief minister Shankar Singh Vaghela, former union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar and former Haryana speaker Kuldeep Sharma -- joined them.
The Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's key confidants -- general secretaries Madhusudan Mistry, P C Joshi and Mohan Prakash -- were clearly among the most notable absentees. Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal reports
'Sachin Pilot has revived the Congress.' 'What goes in favour of Ashok Gehlot is experience.'
Siddiqui, who hails from Banda, was earlier removed as the party in-charge of Uttar Pradesh and was appointed as the MP unit in-charge after the assembly poll debacle.
Even as Congress has announced plans to hold year-long celebrations to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to lay the foundation stone for the 'Ambedkar International Centre' in New Delhi, the legacy of the Dalit icon becoming the focus of a contest between the rival parties
Gandhi reportedly told them that he has already conveyed his decision to the Congress Working Committee and would not relent.
Tytler, who remains sidelined in the party, was seated along with other party leaders including Dikshit on the stage where the function took place at the Delhi Congress office.
Rahul Gandhi, in turn, thanked all the leaders for reposing faith in him and said he would apply his mind on their request of becoming the Congress president, the sources said.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra did remarkable and energetic campaigning for the party, and "from my point of view, I don't think that the Congress per se can be faulted because on the grounds of one person's campaigning", Tharoor said.
Among the names being mentioned for inclusion as ministers are Tejasvi Surya, the 29-year-old MP from Bangalore South, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, the 35-year-old MP from Ladakh, Locket Chatterjee, the 45-year old MP from Hooghly, and Dilip Ghosh, MP from West Medinipur and president of the BJP's West Bengal unit.
The Bharatiya Janata Party can hold elections any time in Delhi but it is afraid to do so, says Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal
The All India Congress Committee has barred all ministers and MLAs in Assam from speaking to the media about dissidence in the Assam Congress Legislature Party headed by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.
With an eye on assembly elections after severe drubbing in Lok Sabha polls, the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government on Wednesday approved 16 per cent reservation for Marathas and five per cent for Muslims in government jobs and education institutions.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday held parleys with the chief ministers of Maharashtra and Haryana amidst the possibility of a change of guard in some of the states where it is in power as the party prepares for a massive rejig in the wake of its unprecedented debacle in Lok Sabha polls.
Rahul Gandhi has gone on a sabbatical "for a few weeks" to reflect upon the future of the Congress.
He accused the BJP leadership of having 'vested interests' while stubbornly refusing to learn any lesson from the thumping loss in the Bihar assembly elections.
Congress sources also said speculation that Motilal Vora would be appointed as interim party president are incorrect.
Tejashwi has refrained from reacting in public but is understood to have been upset over the frequent outbursts of his elder brother.
The feud in the family -- brother versus brother, sister versus brother, and daughter versus mother -- is an open secret. In the absence of the patriarch, there is no one to compose their differences, reports Satyavrat Mishra.
Sources said that despite senior leaders making serious attempts to convince him to rethink on his decision, Gandhi is said to be unfazed.
The Marxists are heading for their worst debacle in many elections. How will May 16, 2014 affect India's Communists? T V R Shenoy surveys the landscape.
BJP is set to win majority of 32 municipality boards and 42 town committees in Assam
Several people clicked snapshots of the leader having his meal from a distance that the SPG -- which looks after Gandhi's security -- permitted.
After witnessing a near rout in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh might be facing the toughest challenge in its political history. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who was basking in the glory of wrestling the reigns of the state from Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati in the 2012 assembly elections, is now facing political heat in more ways than one.
The Congress will hold a chintan shivir immediately after the Budget session of Parliament and the CWC will meet again before that, he told reporters
Mallikarjun Kharge showed that when the hour was on hand, he was the man, says Mohan Guruswamy
Defending Union minister Nihalchand Meghwal who has been issued a notice by a Jaipur court in a sexual assault case, Bharatiya Janata Party's Rajasthan unit on Thursday said there was no question of his resignation as it was a conspiracy by Congress leaders.
'It is creditable that the BJP builds the organisation set-up and then looks for leaders.' 'The Congress on the other hand has to care for the leaders more than the organisation.'
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