Election Results 2022: Rahul Gandhi said the Congress accepted the people's verdict.
With the Congress scoring an unambiguous 0/5 in the state elections from Uttar Pradesh to Goa, and losing one of the few states it held in Punjab, senior leader Rahul Gandhi said the party will learn from these election results.
"Humbly accept the people's verdict. Best wishes to those who have won the mandate. My gratitude to all Congress workers and volunteers for their hard work and dedication. We will learn from this and keep working for the interests of the people of India," he wrote on Twitter.
The Congress lost Punjab to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and was defeated in the three states where it had hoped for a comeback or at least, a fighting chance - Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur.
Addressing a press conference at the party's headquarters in Delhi, Congress General Secretary and chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the party may have lost elections but not its courage and will continue to fight till it emerges victorious.
He also said that the Congress will reinvent and return with a new strategy and will always stand with the people, raising their issues, including inflation, unemployment and the "sinking" economy, with the same responsibility.
"We will introspect on the causes of defeat, work on the organisation and will try to do better in future. We are definitely disappointed but not demoralised. We have only lost the election, not courage. We are not going anywhere - we will keep fighting until we win. We will reinvent and return and will come back with a new strategy," Mr Surjewala told reporters.
In Punjab, the Congress leader said even though the party presented a humble, clean and grounded leadership, it failed to overcome the anti-incumbency of 4.5 yrs of Amarinder Singh government and people voted for change.
"The election results of five states have come against the party's expectations. We were expecting good results in Uttarakhand, Goa and Punjab, but we accept that we failed to get the people's blessings," he said.
"We accept the verdict of the people and congratulate the Aam Aadmi Party Bhagwant Mann and Arvind Kejriwal for their victory in Punjab," he told reporters.
In Uttar Pradesh, Surjewala said even though the Congress was successful in reviving the party, "we could not convert public opinion into seats".
The Congress party has been successful in reaching every street and locality of Uttar Pradesh, he said, adding that ''we fought better elections in Uttarakhand and Goa, but could not emerge victorious''.
"This is a lesson that we need to work harder on the ground," he said.
"We made every effort to keep this election away from the issues of casteism and religious polarisation. But with the help of BJP's massive campaign, emotional issues dominated the issues of education, health, inflation, unemployment," he said.