Rahul upset by internal conflict, claims some leaders preferred own interests

New Delhi: A fact-finding committee will be established by the Congress to investigate the reasons behind their humiliating loss in the elections for the Haryana Assembly.

The decision was announced on Thursday following a review meeting by the party's senior leadership, which was chaired by AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge, to discuss the "unexpected" results.

The gathering at Kharge's home was attended by AICC secretaries for the states, AICC senior observers for the polls Ashok Gehlot and Ajay Maken, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, and AICC general secretary organisation KC Venugopal. Deepak Babaria, AICC's state incharge, participated in the meeting virtually, the New Indian Express reported.

After the meeting, Venugopal told reporters that a fact-finding team would be established to look into the causes behind the party's poor performance in the elections. “The committee will speak with party candidates and leaders to detail the reasons for the unexpected results,” he said.

Rahul Gandhi, according to insiders, was displeased that the party loss was the outcome of factionalism among state leaders. The insider claimed that Gandhi made the point that some leaders prioritised their own interests over those of the party.

“We held a review meeting on the Haryana election results. The results were unexpected, given the exit and opinion polls. There was a lot of difference between exit polls and actual results. We discussed what the reasons for that. We will take appropriate steps going forward on this,” Maken told media.

Asked if infighting had hurt the party’s chances, Maken said, “There are various reasons, from the Election Commission to internal differences, we have discussed all that and will do so in the future as well because such a big upset...we cannot discuss everything in one or one-and-a-half hours.”

AICCs senior observer for Haryana polls, Gehlot said: “We are taking this loss very seriously. The exit polls and the public in one voice were saying that Congress would form a government in Haryana. We need to go to the root of it”.

As is customary in the party to evaluate the findings, a fact-finding committee will be announced shortly, according to a source who attended the meeting.

The committee will also examine the specifics of the complaints filed by different constituencies and compile them in a comprehensive way. Later that evening, a statement from the president's office of Congress stated that many unfounded rumours based on unreliable sources had been making the rounds in the media.

“Following Congress meeting today to discuss the results of Haryana elections, there have been numerous baseless news circulating in the media. Senior leaders had briefed the media after the meeting. We request you to stick to our formal briefing and desist from any conjectures that deviate from the official brief,” a party handout said.

“The party has decided to depute a technical team to look into complaints and discrepancies noted by our candidates. Congress will issue a detailed response based on the fact-finding team’s report,” it said.