UP Congress chief Rita Bahuguna meets Sonia, offers to resign

New Delhi, Mar 9 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who met Congress President Sonia Gandhi here on Friday to discuss the poll debacle, has offered to resign taking responsibility of the party's dismal show in the state assembly elections.

"For the last three consecutive days, there have been talks in this regard. I met Congress President today. I have put the results of the polls before her. I have also put my points before her. We have to assess it deeply. I have also offered to resign taking moral responsibility for the defeat," Joshi told the media here after the meeting.

"Talks related to the organization will stay within the organization. There has been shortcoming for sure. But after all it's the responsibility of the organization, so I have offered to resign," she added.

When asked whether Sonia Gandhi has accepted her resignation, Joshi said: "She has now kept my resignation letter and I believe that a decision in this regard will be taken in due course of time."

The Uttar Pradesh Congress chief further said it is high time the party leaders to think about the future course of action rather than getting frustrated over the poll verdict.

Asserting that party's organizational structure in Uttar Pradesh was weak, Congress President Sonia Gandhi had earlier this week said that every election result is a lesson, whether the party wins or loses.

"I humbly accept the results of the assembly elections. There are number of reasons. The wrong choice of candidates had also contributed to the party's performance in the state assembly elections," said Gandhi.

"In Uttar Pradesh, people were unhappy with the BSP and the alternative for them was Samajwadi Party (SP). We will sit with party leaders and state leaders and assess what went wrong for the Congress," she added.

The elections in Uttar Pradesh turned out to be a big disappointment for the party, where it finished fourth despite Rahul Gandhi himself leading the Congress from the front. (ANI)