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polls. We have only won four elections…So, therefore we are really looking at an extremely grim situation. And under those circumstances, the situation does not call for introspection alone. It calls for a very deep and immediate surgery to arrest this portentous drift into oblivion,” he told the Indian Express in a report.

Meanwhile, former Gujarat chief minister Shankersinh Vaghela on Thursday said that after Ahmed Patel’s death there is no leader in Congress who can guide the party’s top leadership, and the party is suffering because of that. Vaghela, who attended the meeting of dissident G-23 leaders in Delhi the day before, was speaking to reporters at his residence here. He himself is not associated with any political party now, having quit Congress in 2017. The veteran leader termed the Congress’ decision to give the responsibility of Uttar Pradesh elections to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as “misfire”.

“The recent performance of Congress in elections shows the party is suffering because of Ahmed Patel’s absence. After his demise, there is no one to take his place and guide the leadership. If the party had found his replacement, there was not reason to form this G-23,” he said. Patel, a trusted confidante and advisor of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, died in 2020.

“Asking Priyanka Gandhi to head (Congress’ campaign in) Uttar Pradesh was a misfire. Now there is a blot on her career. It happened because there was no proper advisor. G-23 wants the leadership to listen to them. This group is not revolting against the party. Their only problem is that no one listens to them,” said Vaghela.
On the party’s debacle in Punjab, Vaghela said even a political novice would know that a sitting chief minister should not be removed just months ahead of elections. “The problem lies with the leadership. Politics is a full-time job. It is not a part-time job. Rahul Gandhi’s advisor should have told him this,” he said.

In other news, Manipur caretaker Chief Minister N Biren Singh and senior BJP MLA Biswajit Singh, who were seen as contenders for the CM’s post after the saffron party returned to power for the second time in a row, on Thursday asked people not to believe in speculations. Amid reports of “groupism” within the party, both of them had gone to Delhi after the election results were announced a week ago and met the central leaders of the party.

“The parliamentary board of the party will be announcing the state legislature party leader. The announcement is delayed as Parliament is in session now,” Biswajit told reporters at the Imphal airport on his return from the national capital. On reports that N Biren Singh may get a second term as the chief minister, he said it was speculation.

“There is nothing official about the reports going around on social media and even I am not aware of the decision (on who will be the CM)…. The BJP is a well organised and disciplined party and the decision taken by the party will be welcomed,” said Biren Singh after returning from Delhi.

According to reports, Biswajit Singh may also be chosen as a surprise pick for the CM post.

The Manipur BJP functionaries’ meeting with central leaders in New Delhi was to celebrate the party’s victory in the state assembly elections, Biswajit said claiming that nothing related to the next chief minister was discussed. “The meeting we had in Delhi was election review, about who received more votes and what mistakes were made,” Biren said. He also appealed to people not to upload speculative posts about the next chief minister on social media, saying it will lead to misunderstanding. The BJP returned to power in the insurgency-affected Manipur, picking up 32 seats in a house of 60.

It had managed to form a government in 2017 despite having just 21 seats compared to Congress’s 28 by joining hands with two local parties NPP and NPF. However, this time around, the BJP contested alone and managed to win a majority on the plank that a vote for the party would bring peace to the troubled state both in the valley and the hills where tribals hold the ground.

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