Editor's Pick: Status Quo in Congress leadership despite poor show

All three members of the Gandhi family are ready to step down from leadership roles and make any sacrifice, if the party so desires, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said in her opening remarks at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Sunday, after the party’s poor show in the recently held Assembly elections. The CWC also acknowledged its shortcomings, but rejected Ms Gandhi’s offer to step down; instead it reaffirmed its faith in her leadership. After over a four-hour meeting on the party’s debacle in the recent Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur, the CWC adopted a resolution that described the situation as “serious,” and decided to hold a chintan shivir (brainstorming session) soon after the second leg of the Budget session of Parliament ends in the second week of April. “The recent Assembly election results of five States are a cause of serious concern for the Indian National Congress. The party accepts that due to shortcomings in our strategy, we could not effectively expose the misrule of the BJP governments in four States and over the anti-incumbency in Punjab in the short time after effecting a change of leadership,” party general secretary K.C. Venugopal said, reading out the statement to the media. As a recent editorial in the newspaper had pointed out, the leadership of the Gandhi family has become more of a burden going by its moves ahead of the elections that contributed directly to the party’s Punjab debacle. The Hindu has led with the report on the decision of the CWC to continue to repose faith in the Gandhi family, showing the party’s reluctance to let go of the Gandhi family. There appears to be no alternative to the Gandhi family as of now as the future of the grand old party remains intertwined with the Gandhis. There appears to be no single party to pose a challenge to the BJP at the national level for now. Whether attempts made by regional leaders to stitch a coalition attract voters remains to be seen. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor‘s Pick and more. Click here The Hindu’s Editorials Unguided missile: On a malfunction and Pakistan’s probe demand Murderous pride: On Dalit youth Gokulraj murder case The Hindu’s Daily Quiz The $17-billion high-speed “Shinkansen” bullet train project inaugurated in 2017 by former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and Indian PM Narendra Modi connects which two cities? Mumbai-Ahmedabad Chennai-Mysuru Nagpur-Varanasi Patna-Guwahati To find out the answer and play the full quiz, click here [logo] Editor's Pick 14 MARCH 2022 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( Status Quo in Congress leadership despite poor show All three members of the Gandhi family are ready to step down from leadership roles and make any sacrifice, if the party so desires, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said in her opening remarks at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Sunday, after the party’s poor show in the recently held Assembly elections. The CWC also acknowledged its shortcomings, but r[ejected Ms Gandhi’s offer to step down]( instead it reaffirmed its faith in her leadership. After over a four-hour meeting on the party’s debacle in the recent Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur, the CWC adopted a resolution that described the situation as “serious,” and decided to hold a chintan shivir (brainstorming session) soon after the second leg of the Budget session of Parliament ends in the second week of April. “The recent Assembly election results of five States are a cause of serious concern for the Indian National Congress. The party accepts that due to shortcomings in our strategy, we could not effectively expose the misrule of the BJP governments in four States and over the anti-incumbency in Punjab in the short time after effecting a change of leadership,” party general secretary K.C. Venugopal said, reading out the statement to the media. As a recent editorial in the newspaper had pointed out, the leadership of the Gandhi family has become more of a burden going by its moves ahead of the elections that contributed directly to the party’s Punjab debacle. The Hindu has led with the report on the decision of the CWC to continue to repose faith in the Gandhi family, showing the party’s reluctance to let go of the [Gandhi family.]( There appears to be no alternative to the Gandhi family as of now as the future of the grand old party remains intertwined with the Gandhis. There appears to be no single party to pose a challenge to the BJP at the national level for now. Whether attempts made by regional leaders to stitch a coalition attract voters remains to be seen. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor‘s Pick and more.  [Click here]( The Hindu’s Editorials [Arrow][Unguided missile: On a malfunction and Pakistan’s probe demandÂ]( [Arrow][Murderous pride: On Dalit youth Gokulraj murder caseÂ]( The Hindu’s Daily Quiz The $17-billion high-speed “Shinkansen” bullet train project inaugurated in 2017 by former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and Indian PM Narendra Modi connects which two cities? - Mumbai-Ahmedabad - Chennai-Mysuru - Nagpur-Varanasi - Patna-Guwahati To find out the answer and play the full quiz, [click here]( Today’s Best Reads [[Key winners at the 2022 British Academy Film Awards] Key winners at the 2022 British Academy Film Awards]( [[Sanctions on Russia, what is the impact on India? | Worldview with Suhasini Haidar] Sanctions on Russia, what is the impact on India? | Worldview with Suhasini Haidar]( [[No ifs or butts: Cigarette butts are very harmful for the environment] No ifs or butts: Cigarette butts are very harmful for the environment]( [[Vladimir Putin | Unpredictable populist] Vladimir Putin | Unpredictable populist]( Copyright @ 2022, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. 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