Published 18:27 IST, February 12th 2020
'Surgical action needed to revive Congress party', says Ex-Karnataka CM Veerappa Moily
Counting for the Delhi Assembly took place on Tuesday and AAP won 62 seats whereas BJP won the remaining eight seats. Congress failed to win a single seat
Former Chief Minister of Karnataka Veerappa Moily said that the Congress party needs to take a surgical action so that the party can revive itself and fight and win elections once again.
Moily calls for massive changes
Moily said, "We are concerned. The scenario of Delhi is that people (voters) didn't take Congress seriously. They thought that they should not divert their votes, our own vote banks which normally used to come to us, have gone to AAP," he said.
Moily added that the party is concerned and worried about the humiliating defeat in Delhi, admitting that the defeat is a lesson from which the Congress has to learn.
"Congress requires total rejuvenation. You can't point (fingers at) out one or two leaders (for electoral setbacks), accountability will have to be taken by every Congressman," Moily said.
"Now, this is the time to act for rejuvenation of the party. It has to be revamped. Surgical action will have to be taken so that it starts yielding the results," he added.
Counting for the 70-seat Delhi Assembly took place on Tuesday and AAP won 62 seats whereas BJP won the remaining eight seats. Congress failed to win a single seat for the second consecutive election.
Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra resigned later on Tuesday evening over the party's dismal performance. "I take moral responsibility for the party's debacle and have resigned," he told PTI. Earlier in the day, while accepting defeat, Chopra told Republic TV that he is accepting the people's mandate and he takes full responsibility for it. Furthermore, he added, "Winning and losing is a part of elections. But I am taking moral responsibility. I don't consider AAP a party - it is BJP's B team."
Delhi Congress chief PC Chacko also offered his resignation a day later. Speaking to Republic TV, he said that he is taking the moral responsibility of Congress drubbing in the polls. He also brushed aside rumours of the rift within the grand old party. He also said that there are numerous reasons for the defeat.
Congress leaders have been quick to accept that the party needs to arrest the slide of dismal electoral performances. Former General Secretary of Congress Digvijay Singh said that he did not expect the party to lose in such a manner.
Former Union Minister Kapil Sibal said that the party has no leadership. Speaking to ANI on Wednesday, he said, "We are neither in the state nor the Centre. So when people of Delhi decided that they will defeat BJP, our voters got split between BJP and AAP. We could not communicate our strategies and policies with people. It's definitely our loss. 67 candidates lost their deposits. It's a challenge in front of us to find leadership for Delhi."
Updated 18:27 IST, February 12th 2020