Congress President seeks resignation of chiefs of states that went to polls

New Delhi, March 15 (UNI) Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday asked the state party presidents of the five states which recently went to polls to resign, in the wake of poor show by the grand old party in all five states. “Congress President, Smt. Sonia Gandhi has asked the PCC Presidents of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa & Manipur to put in their resignations in order to facilitate reorganization of PCC’s,” Chief Spokesperson of the party Randeep Singh Surjewala said in a tweet. Navjot Singh Sidhu is the Congress unit chief in Punjab, Ganesh Godiyal heads Congress in Uttarakhand, Ajay Kumar Lallu is in Uttar Pradesh, Girish Chodankar in Goa, while Loken Singh is Congress chief in Manipur. Uttarakhand Chief Godiyal tweeted his resignation soon after. “Taking moral responsibility for the party’s defeat in the state assembly elections, I have submitted my resignation today. I wanted to resign on the result day itself but stayed on waiting for the order of the high command,” Godiyal said. “On reaching Delhi today, as soon as it came to know that the office bearers of all other states, where the elections did not get the expected success, are resigning from their posts, I have also submitted my resignation. I will continue to fight as a Congress worker,” he said. Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi meanwhile held a meeting with leaders and office bearers from Uttar Pradesh to analyze the poll results. State party chief Ajay Kumar Lallu said in a tweet that many aspects were discussed, along with steps to be taken to improve the situation. “We will plug the loopholes at every level, and fight on the basic questions of Uttar Pradesh,” Lallu said. On Sunday, the party held a meeting of the Congress Working Committee to discuss the poll outcomes. It was decided that Sonia Gandhi will continue as the party president till organizational elections are held. A ‘Chintan Shivir’ or brainstorming session will also be held soon by the party to analyze the loss. Congress lost Punjab, where it was in power to Aam Aadmi Party, while Bhartiya Janata Party won Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. In Uttar Pradesh, where Priyanka Gandhi was the poll In-charge, Congress won only two seats and its vote share went down to 2.5 per cent.