CWC meet today to dissect dismal poll show

NEW DELHI: Congress Working Committee will meet on Monday to discuss the party performance in the recent five state elections that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has termed "disappointing".
The apex body of Congress comprises senior loyalists like former PM Manmohan Singh, A K Antony, as also the Gandhi siblings, besides dissidents belonging to G-23 group Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma.
The discussion may turn out to be a serious dissection of gaps in the party's functioning which the G-23 had earlier flagged while making demands for reforms like internal elections down to the block level and collective decision making.
The defeats are viewed as serious because Congress failed to win Kerala which has a tradition to alternating between LDF and UDF, besides ending up behind ruling BJP in Assam and getting washed out in West Bengal. Also, senior leaders of G-23 like Azad were kept out of the election campaign despite Assam, Bengal and Kerala, having high Muslim populations.
The poll strategy adopted in states may come under fire as many Congressmen believe that the party erred in targeting TMC chief Mamata Banerjee when she was facing an aggressive BJP in Bengal. Congress drew a blank in the state.
Similarly, Congress insiders have also slammed the tie-up with ISF led by a Muslim cleric in Bengal. At the same time, party leaders have also questioned the alliance with Muslim outfit AIUDF of Badruddin Ajmal.
Sources said the party may also discuss the Central Vista project.