Congress begins to mull reasons for Punjab poll debacle

After going into UP poll debacle, Congress today set in motion the exercise of analysing the causes for its defeat in Punjab amid a blame-game going on among party leaders in the state for the poor showing with many of them targeting PCC chief Amarinder Singh

After going into UP poll debacle, Congress on Friday set in motion the exercise of analysing the causes for its defeat in Punjab amid a blame-game going on among party leaders in the state for the poor showing with many of them targeting PCC chief Amarinder Singh.

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A three-member high-level Committee headed by defence minister AK Antony on Friday separately heard party leaders from the state to ascertain the reasons behind the defeat and help revamp the party in the state.

Prominent leaders from Punjab whom the Committee members met on Friday evening at Antony's residence included Union ministers Preneet Kaur and Ashwani Kumar, besides party's general secretary incharge Gulchain Singh Charak and secretary Vijay Laxmi Sadho, PCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh and his bête noire Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, apart from AICC secretary Jagmit Singh Brar.

Other leaders who also met the Committee members were newly-elected CLP leader Sunil Jakhar and former PCC chief Mohinder Singh Kaypee.

The three-member committee, which includes Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit and power minister Shushil Kumar Shinde, was formed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to assess the reasons for the defeat and suggest measures to revamp the party ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.