We had a little down: Rahul on the Cong's spectacular UP defeat

March 14, 2017 13:34

Congress VP Rahul Gandhi's first statement after the five-state poll debacle. Commenting on the party's decimation in UP, Rahul said, "In opposition, you go through ups and downs, we had a little down."

"The BJP won elections in UP, I'd like to congratulate them. Why they won it has multiple reasons, one being polarisation," he said.

The Congress VP said the party needs to make structural changes, but accused the BJP of misusing money for power. "The BJP has stolen mandate the in Goa and Manipur by money power," he said.

Meanwhile the BJP's Goa chief said the party will not wait till Thursday, will take the floor test tomorrow itself.

On Saturday, when the election results were declared, senior Congress leaders admitted the losses hurt.

"Yes, UP is a bad loss, it hurts...I agree that, in UP, we need fundamental restructuring thinking for the Congress as a whole. These have to be hard, tough decisions about strategy," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said.

Another Congress leader Shakeel Ahmad attributed the party's poor show in the politically crucial state to "public mood" and said its performance will be "scrutinised".

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