Inflation caused defeats in Punjab and Uttarakhand:Sonia

New Delhi, Mar 6 (UNI) Expressing concern over the runaway inflation, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today said that this might have contributed to the party's defeat in the recent assembly polls but asked her cadres not to get demhearted and gear themselves up for the electoral battle in Uttar Pradesh.

In her first address to the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) after the assembly polls in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur, she said ''If we are to learn from our experience, we must draw the correct conclusions. We must be candid with ourselves and examine why so many sitting MLAs and ministers, for example, failed to retain their seats.'' ''What were our shortcomings? Did we put up the best possible candidates? Did our party fail to work jointly? Were we mindful enough of sensitivities and expectations of different sections of society? These questions need to be answered and the answers analysed,'' Ms Gandhi wondered.

Sharing the concern of the people over price rise, Ms Gandhi said her party as well as the Congress-led UPA coalition Government at the Centre were fully alive to the situation.

''Our party and the Government are in regular touch. The Government has already announced a large number of measures,''she pointed out.

Reiterating India's commitment to normalising relations with Pakistan, Ms Gandhi said the terror attack on the Samjhauta Express last month was a clear attempt to undermine the peace process between the two countries.

''We must not let this tragic event divert us from our common endeavour to normalise relations between the two countries,'' she added.

The Congress President asked the party leaders to consolidate and project the new initiatives launched by the ruling UPA while reminding them that the next general elections were just two years away.

''We are now more than half way through our five-year term...all of you should effectively communicate to your constituents the significant increase in financial outlays effected by the UPA government in the past three years in sectors such as agriculture, rural development, health, education, irrigation and social welfare,'' she said.

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UNI