New Delhi: Dismissing suggestions that assembly polls in four states were a Rahul Gandhi vs Narendra Modi contest, Congress on Sunday attributed the reverses to serious problems in the state units of the party and governments including at the Centre.
With the Lok Sabha polls just few months away, the party brushed aside talk that Rahul Gandhi will take over as the Prime Minister saying that Manmohan Singh will complete his tenure at the helm as already announced.
Party General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi dubbed as "unthoughtful" statements that Sonia Gandhi, who has virtually taken a backseat after Rahul's elevation, will return to lead the party after the Congress's 4-0 result as it lost power in Delhi and Rajasthan and tasted defeat for the third time in Madhya Pradesh.
"Sonia Gandhi is the party chief and the organisation is running under her leadership," he said.
Without naming any leader, Dwivedi was critical of the infighting in the organisation in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi ahead of the polls. Besides, he said the way statements were made by some Ministers at the Centre, the credit for the schemes instead of going to the UPA or Congress went to them.
"Tell me by what statements or actions of Rahul Gandhi did you feel that he is eager to become Prime Minister. Let 2014 come ....", he said.
Deriding suggestions that the polls were a Rahul Gandhi vs Narendra Modi affair, Dwivedi said that elections are never between individuals but between parties. He also disagrred with questions that Rahul Gandhi could not project himself as an effective leader.
When told that the outgoing Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had suggested that he had to suffer due to problems related to Centre, Dwivedi said that he was not aware of what the Chief Minister has said.
But at the same time, he said that the state government and the party organisation did not appear on the same page for almost four and a half years. There were statements during this time that Congress cannnot win more than 50 of the total 200 seats in the state, he said.
Noting that the situation in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh was no different, he said that the bonhomie there was seen only just before elections.
In Chhattisgarh, Nandkumar Patel had taken the Congress on the path to progress and was seen as an alternative Chief Minister when the Maoist attack wiped him as also several other party leaders, Dwivedi said.
Turning to Delhi, he said the "rift" between the government and the party was visible for five years and it should have been bridged. He said that the rift was seen at the time of the campaigning as also in ticket distribution. He said that Congress will do introspection and would make amends in its working.
