Priyanka Gandhi reviews UP poll result

New Delhi, Mar 15: Congress general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday took "full responsibility" for the party's defeat in UP at a review meeting to identify shortcomings and chalk out future plans for the politically-crucial state.

"'Priyanka Gandhi without wasting any time has started preparations for Lok Sabha elections," Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate told reporters. The meeting, chaired by Priyanka Gandhi, comes two days after she presented her report regarding the party's drubbing in the polls at the meeting of the Congress Working Committee chaired by party chief Sonia Gandhi.

The Congress president on Tuesday asked chiefs of its Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur units to resign after its abject loss in the assembly elections in these states led to calls to restructure the organisation. Ajay Kumar Lallu, who has been asked to quit as Uttar Pradesh unit president, attended the meeting, besides Aradhna Mishra Mona, senior leaders Salman Khurshid, Pramod Tiwari, Ajay Rai, Rajiv Shukla, Acharya Pramod and Rashid Alvi.

Sources said the meeting discussed threadbare the performance in each constituency in UP, where the Congress won only two seats out of 403 and got a vote share of 2.33 percent. As many as 97 percent of its candidates also lost their security deposits in these assembly elections in UP. The party will chalk out its roadmap for the state where it contested all the seats without any alliance after many years.

Shrinate later told reporters that Priyanka Gandhi took "full responsibility for the results" and discussed in detail the reasons for the party's performance. "The meeting lasted a few hours. This election has posed fresh challenges before us and also opened new avenues. Priyanka Gandhi without wasting any time has started preparations for Lok Sabha elections and how the party would contest these polls with full strength," she said.

Lallu also said a review meeting was held in Delhi this evening with senior Congress leaders under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi. "Many aspects and improvements to be brought in were discussed in detail. Will plug the loopholes at every level, fight on the basic issues of Uttar Pradesh," he said in a tweet in Hindi after the meeting. To a question on Sonia Gandhi seeking the resignation of all PCC presidents where elections were held, Shrinate said, "PCC presidents have been asked to resign by Sonia Gandhi and they have as captains have resigned taking full responsibility for the poll performance." PTI