With the Congress suffering a crushing defeat in the latest round of Assembly polls, party Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor on Thursday, March 10, said it is time to reaffirm the idea of India that the Congress has stood for and reform the party's organisational leadership in a manner that will reignite those ideas and inspire the people. Tharoor, who was among the Group of 23 leaders, who wrote to party chief Sonia Gandhi seeking an organisational overhaul, also said "change is unavoidable" for the party to succeed.
The BJP was headed for a second straight win in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh and was set to form governments in Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur as well, while the Aam Aadmi Party registered a landslide win in Punjab. The Congress suffered a big defeat in all the five states.
"All of us who believe in @INCIndia are hurting from the results of the recent Assembly elections. It is time to reaffirm the idea of India that the Congress has stood for and the positive agenda it offers the nation...And to reform our organisational leadership in a manner that will reignite those ideas and inspire the people," said Tharoor. "One thing is clear -- Change is unavoidable if we need to succeed," the MP from Thiruvananthapuram said in a tweet.
Responding to a tweet which said the BJP win in the polls was one of factors such as good governance and welfare schemes, Tharoor said it was also "of unemployment, inflation and bodies floating down the Ganga thanks to the mismanagement of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic". "Also of communal hatred and divisive politics. Let's not be glib here," he added.