Cong will win Lok Sabha polls: Sonia Gandhi

New Delhi, Mar 11: Congress President Sonia Gandhi today said her party would face the next Lok Sabha polls with a ''firm sense of self-confidence'' as the UPA government's ''outstanding record of achievements'' were sufficient to earn the ''trust and mandate of the people once again.''

Addressing the general body of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP), the CPP leader expressed disappointment over the results of the recent assembly elections and asked the MPs to learn from these experiences, understand the reasons for the setbacks and work collectively to rectify them. ''The simple lesson is that we need much harder work and meticulous preparation, much more careful selection of our candidates and strategies, much greater unity and discipline.

''Inevitably, we have also to start preparing for the Lok Sabha polls next year. We will go into these polls with an outstanding record of achievements, both in terms of government programmes and of legislation enacted. These achievements should earn for us the trust and mandate of the people once again. These achievements give us a firm sense of self-confidence to take on our political opponents,'' she said.

She said the party planned to hold rallies in all states similar to the public meeting organised here last Sunday and asked the MPs to take active part in them and go ahead with such meetings in all the district headquarters.

She applauded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the ''dignified and brilliant manner'' in which he ''completely demolished'' all arguments of the BJP in both Houses of Parliament while replying to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President for her address.

UNI