It could be a stormy day for Congress at CWC meet today after poll debacle

After a humiliating defeat in the five state elections, the Congress Working Committee meet could be a stormy one as resignations may pour in from the leaders, who have been involved in the election management.

New Delhi:After a humiliating defeat in the Assembly elections in five states, the Congress party called a meeting of the Working Committee (CWC) on Sunday to discuss the reasons behind its debacle.

The highest decision making body of the Congress -- the Congress Working Committee (CWC) is to meet on Sunday at 4 p.m. to discuss the poll debacle in five states. The meeting comes in the wake of the G23 leaders putting pressure on the party to advance the internal polls and had met at Ghulam Nabi Azad's residence.

In the past, however, Sonia Gandhi had offered to quit but it was rejected by the CWC while the rebel group within the party wants a change in the leadership and reforms within the setup. The rebel group is not ready to tackle this move of the party but after the poll debacle in 2019 Sonia Gandhi's son Rahul Gandhi who was party president then, had quit and Sonia had to take over in August 2019.

Speculations apart, the CWC may witness a stormy session. The CWC members loyal to the Gandhis may offer to quit. If such things happen, the Congress has to choose a new leader and sources say that the party may have to continue with the interim President and the majority of the CWC members may suggest Priyanka Gandhi's name. The G23 leaders in the meeting on Friday discussed the issue that there should be no more delay in electing the new president of the party and an AICC session should be called in to discuss the poll debacle, sources said.

Sources also said that it is necessary to fix the accountability for the poll debacle and urgent changes are required in the composition of the CWC. Sources said that the organisational polls were also discussed in the meeting at Azad's residence. The meeting was held a day after party's drubbing in the Assembly elections held in five states. The Group-23 (G-23) leaders who met at Ghulam Nabi Azad's residence included Senior Congress leaders Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari, Anand Sharma and Akhilesh Prasad Singh while some leaders joined virtually. There is simmering tension within the Congress after the poll debacle, and the G-23 leaders are reportedly miffed with the style of functioning of the party leadership.

While speaking about the Punjab Assembly elections, a leader told ETV Bharat that it is the infighting and the lack of unity that has cost the Congress party a major defeat in such a state where it had a stronghold. The leader also opined that it is the fault of Congress leadership that failed to "control" Navjot Singh Sidhu, Punjab Congress chief, at the right time.

"It's a very depressing scenario. There was a complete lack of discipline in Punjab. The central leadership didn't take action on time, giving a free hand to Sidhu. His resignation must have been accepted by the party high command on the very same day," a Congress member said.

Another source within the party asserted, "BJP gets votes on the face of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, AAP got people's support for Arvind Kejriwal. But what about Congress?"

The Congress lost Punjab, a state under its control, to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and could not put up a fight in three other states where it was hoping to form the government -- Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.