Salman Khurshid says Maharashtra and Haryana poll results show Congress' slide has stopped, party can now reverse tide

Bengaluru: Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid said on Monday the outcome of Haryana and Maharashtra elections indicates that his party's slide in the country has stopped and it can now look forward to reversing the tide.

The party has now come out of a bad period of confusion and self-doubt, the former Union Minister said, obviously referring to the party's poor show in the Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi quitting as the party president and some leaders deserting in a few States.

File image of Salman Khurshid. PTI.

Terming the election results in the two States as "encouraging", he said the party workers are very pleased. In Haryana, Congress doubled its 2014 tally, and it Maharashtra, the Congress-NCP alliance improved its tally considerably.

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"It (the election results) gives them (Congress workers) a second breath and I think it's a reminder to all of us in the Congress that there is a lot of life in us and what we need to do now is to get back on our feet and fight with faith and conviction," Khurshid told PTI.

"I think it's a clear indication that there is no further slide and we can start reversing the tide", he said, adding the Congress now needs clarity of purpose. Khurshid said the Congress has an outstanding manifesto but in public performances, there needs to be clarity of purpose.

He added that departing from manifesto and taking contradictory positions are some things that need to be avoided. "We need clarity of unity and purpose and I hope that we will be able to show that," Khurshid said.

Asked if the Congress would have put up a much better show had it made more efforts before the elections in the two states, he said that's always the case. "We were coming out of a very bad period, we had obviously a lot of confusion, self-doubt, etc. I think all that haze has cleared and we can see the path clear again," he said.

On some reports before the elections in Haryana and Maharashtra that the verdict is going to be one-sided with BJP projected to win and the Congress not putting up a fight, Khurshid said it was a perception created by a section of the media and there was no lack of conviction in his party.