Sonia meets Cong gen secys to discuss poll results

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Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday held a meeting of party general secretaries and office bearers to discuss the outcome of the Assembly elections in five states including Uttar Pradesh, and the reasons behind it.

Gandhi met party general secretaries and office-bearers at the All Indian Congress Committee headquarters here and later discussed the poll results with general secretaries in-charge of the five states.

General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, who had campaigned extensively for the party in Uttar Pradesh, kept away from the meeting.

Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh, in-charge of UP; Chaudhary Birendra Singh, incharge of Uttarakhand; Gulchain Singh Charak, in-charge of Punjab; Jagmeet Singh Brar, in-charge of Goa; and Luizinho Faleiro, in-charge of Manipur, were present in the meeting with Gandhi.

Congress was hopeful of wresting Punjab from the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP but put up a dismal performance. In Uttar Pradesh also the party could improve its tally by only six seats from 22 in 2007 to 28 this time.

Congress had virtually made UP a prestige issue and Rahul Gandhi and Digvijay Singh had made all efforts to improve the tally. However, Samajwadi Party swept the polls with an unprecedented 224 seats in its kitty.

Rahul Gandhi had on Tuesday accepted responsibility for the party's dismal performance in UP.