Failure to match Modi campaign led Cong debacle: leaders tell AK Antony Committee

New Delhi: Failure of the Congress to match the aggressive campaign by Narendra Modi led to the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat and Rajasthan, the AK Antony Committee was told today. Party leaders from the two states told the committee going into the causes of the Congress defeat in the polls that the party was no match to the propaganda machine unleashed by the BJP under Modi. [caption id=“attachment_1596561” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] Congress drew a blank in the two states where BJP secured all the 25 seats in Rajasthan and 26 in Gujarat, the home state of Modi. “The problem was that we failed to reach out to the people with the flagship programmes and the various welfare initiatives initiated by the UPA-II,” a Gujarat leader told the panel. A Rajasthan leader said that Congress was swept off its feet by the aggressive opposition campaign which converted all the non-issues into issues as Congress failed to effectively counter the charges on various scams and scandals. Gujarat leaders including Shankersinh Vaghela, Arjun Modhwadia, Shaktisinh Gohil and AICC General Secretary Madhusudan Mistry appeared before the Committee while those from Rajasthan included Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot, Rameshwar Dudy and CP Joshi. The four-member Antony Committee was constituted by the party after the rout in the polls which saw Congress securing just 44 out of 543 seats in the Lok Sabha, its lowest ever. PTI