India
Congress: Disappointing: Congress on assembly election results in 3 northeastern states | India News
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NEW DELHI: The Congress on Thursday said the assembly election results in the northeastern states of Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya were “disappointing” for it, but touted its victory in three assembly bypolls in as many states as “encouraging”.
Congress general secretary communications Jairam Ramesh said the party would soon assess the assembly poll results and take corrective measures to strengthen the organisation.
“Our performance will be strong five years later,” he said, pointing to the fact that the party fielded youth candidates in the northeastern states this time with an eye on the future.
The party won just five of the all 60 seats it contested in Maghalaya and failed to open its account in Nagaland where it fielded candidates in 23 out of 60 seats.
In Tripura where the Congress contested the election in alliance with the Left parties, it contested in 13 seats and bagged just three seats out of a total of 60.
The BJP and its alliance partners returned to power in Tripura and Nagaland. The National People’s Party is the single-largest party in Meghalaya and the BJP is likely to support it in government formation.
Ramesh said the party has done well in by-elections in West Bengal, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu where its candidates won seats which were traditionally held by its rivals, but the performance in the assembly polls in the three northeastern states were disappointing.
He said the Congress won the Sagardighi assembly bypoll in West Bengal, Kasba Peth in Maharashtra and Erode East in Tamil Nadu.
Ramesh said the party won its first seat in the West Bengal Assembly and wrested the Kasba assembly constituency in Maharashtra from the BJP after almost 30 years and termed the victories “very encouraging”.
He also said that the Congress candidate in Tamil Nadu won with a good margin and expressed the hope that the people will come out in favour of the party in forthcoming elections.
Ramesh said the party hoped to get a majority with the Left in Tripura but that did not happen.
He hoped the party would improve its vote share in Nagaland and Meghalaya, where all its MLAs in the previous assembly were poached by the TMC.
“We are building the Congress for the future and those who thought they will make it big by breaking the Congress have not achieved any success,” Ramesh said in an apparent dig at the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
He also said that the party has distributed tickets in northeastern states while keeping in mind the future.
On whether the performance was affected since national leaders of the Congress did not campaign in the assembly polls in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland, he said, “I don’t think national leaders can turn the election upside down in assembly polls. The organisation needs to be strong at the state level… This is a local election and was localised.”
He said in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland the local leadership mattered and “to say that our performance in Northeast was not good because national leaders did not campaign is wrong”.
In a tweet, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal congratulated winning candidate Bayron Biswas, party leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and the state party unit “for the Sagardighi by-poll victory, after 51 years, in a 3-cornered fight.”
“The message is clear – no battle is difficult if fought with all our might. This is a watershed moment for INC’s re-emergence in West Bengal,” he said.
He also thanked the party’s allies in Maharashtra for its victory. “This by-poll result is the start of a new chapter in Indian politics,” he said.
“The by-poll victories in Erode, Kasbapeth and Sagardighi give us a great boost for the many battles ahead! Proud of all the hard-working workers who silenced all the naysayers by giving an extraordinary fight. All over the country, the Congress flag flies high today,” he said in another tweet.
The victory of Congress in Kasba is significant as it was the first direct contest between the ruling BJP-Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the opposing MVA after the change of the state government in June last year.
Congress general secretary communications Jairam Ramesh said the party would soon assess the assembly poll results and take corrective measures to strengthen the organisation.
“Our performance will be strong five years later,” he said, pointing to the fact that the party fielded youth candidates in the northeastern states this time with an eye on the future.
The party won just five of the all 60 seats it contested in Maghalaya and failed to open its account in Nagaland where it fielded candidates in 23 out of 60 seats.
In Tripura where the Congress contested the election in alliance with the Left parties, it contested in 13 seats and bagged just three seats out of a total of 60.
The BJP and its alliance partners returned to power in Tripura and Nagaland. The National People’s Party is the single-largest party in Meghalaya and the BJP is likely to support it in government formation.
Ramesh said the party has done well in by-elections in West Bengal, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu where its candidates won seats which were traditionally held by its rivals, but the performance in the assembly polls in the three northeastern states were disappointing.
He said the Congress won the Sagardighi assembly bypoll in West Bengal, Kasba Peth in Maharashtra and Erode East in Tamil Nadu.
Ramesh said the party won its first seat in the West Bengal Assembly and wrested the Kasba assembly constituency in Maharashtra from the BJP after almost 30 years and termed the victories “very encouraging”.
He also said that the Congress candidate in Tamil Nadu won with a good margin and expressed the hope that the people will come out in favour of the party in forthcoming elections.
Ramesh said the party hoped to get a majority with the Left in Tripura but that did not happen.
He hoped the party would improve its vote share in Nagaland and Meghalaya, where all its MLAs in the previous assembly were poached by the TMC.
“We are building the Congress for the future and those who thought they will make it big by breaking the Congress have not achieved any success,” Ramesh said in an apparent dig at the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
He also said that the party has distributed tickets in northeastern states while keeping in mind the future.
On whether the performance was affected since national leaders of the Congress did not campaign in the assembly polls in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland, he said, “I don’t think national leaders can turn the election upside down in assembly polls. The organisation needs to be strong at the state level… This is a local election and was localised.”
He said in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland the local leadership mattered and “to say that our performance in Northeast was not good because national leaders did not campaign is wrong”.
In a tweet, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal congratulated winning candidate Bayron Biswas, party leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and the state party unit “for the Sagardighi by-poll victory, after 51 years, in a 3-cornered fight.”
“The message is clear – no battle is difficult if fought with all our might. This is a watershed moment for INC’s re-emergence in West Bengal,” he said.
He also thanked the party’s allies in Maharashtra for its victory. “This by-poll result is the start of a new chapter in Indian politics,” he said.
“The by-poll victories in Erode, Kasbapeth and Sagardighi give us a great boost for the many battles ahead! Proud of all the hard-working workers who silenced all the naysayers by giving an extraordinary fight. All over the country, the Congress flag flies high today,” he said in another tweet.
The victory of Congress in Kasba is significant as it was the first direct contest between the ruling BJP-Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the opposing MVA after the change of the state government in June last year.
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