Congress' top decision-making body to meet on March 13 to discuss poll debacle

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) will meet on Sunday to address the election catastrophe in five states as well as the present political environment. The meeting will begin at 4 pm at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) office. While Congress G-23 leaders, who are members of the Congress Working Committee, are expected to press for party changes during the CWC meeting, sources said on Friday.

Earlier on Friday, Congress G23 convened at the house of senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad in the national capital. The meeting was attended by Congress leaders Bhupender Singh Hooda, Manish Tewari, Kapil Sibal and Anand Sharma, as well as Akhilesh Prasad Singh.

The results of the five assembly elections shocked the Congress, which had hoped to do well in order to resurrect its prospects for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and to fend off the emerging challenge from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Trinamool Congress to replace it as the fulcrum of anti-BJP politics in the country.

In Uttar Pradesh, where the campaign was managed by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Sonia Gandhi's daughter and senior politician Rahul Gandhi's sister, the Congress received just two seats out of 403, a five-seat loss from the previous election. The party received only 2.4 per cent of the vote.