Kalahandi (Odisha): Former union minister Bhakta Charan Das on Friday resigned from the post of chairman of Odisha Congress Campaign Committee.
Speaking to ANI, he took the responsibility of Congress’ debacle in the Lok Sabha elections upon himself and said: “The result was not what we expected. Congress’ election manifesto did not reach the public. Our party was not able to use modern technology and methods for publicity. The party needs to be rebuilt again.” Das also claimed that EVMs were tempered in Kalahandi constituency, from where he had contested.
Das was defeated by Basant Kumar Panda of BJP by a margin of 110508 votes. Meanwhile, presidents of the party units in states like Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha have offered to resign from their post accepting responsibility for the poor showing of the party in the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections. In the last elections, the Congress had won 44 seats, the lowest-score in its history, and improved its tally marginally by 8 to reach 52 seats in the latest elections.