Congress letting Gujarat leaders down led to poll debacle, says Moily

State leaders were let down which led to the poor show of the Congress in Gujarat Assembly elections, senior party leader M Veerappa Moily said on Sunday. Noting that the Congress should always respect leaders who brought it success earlier, the former Union Minister said the move to make Pratibha Singh, wife of former CM late Virbhadra Singh, PCC chief paid electoral dividends in Himachal Pradesh.

The Congress won just 17 seats in the Gujarat Assembly, while bagging 40 seats in the 68-member Himachal Pradesh House. ''Tested, well-tested and time-tested leaders will have to be given honour and respect and that's how the Congress can come up which we have not done in Gujarat'', Moily told PTI. ''In Gujarat, the leaders have been let down and things have not improved. It's a lesson to be learnt'', the former Karnataka Chief Minister said. Speaking in general terms, he said Congress National General Secretaries and Observers should not ''impose'' on State leaders and, instead, they should be empowered, nurtured and given due recognition ''so that they can always work for the party. ''Last time, they got a very good result (Congress got 77 seats in the 2017 Gujarat Assembly poll). All these leaders who were at the helm of affairs (in Gujarat in 2017) have been changed, they are not properly given their respect and recognition'', Moily pointed out.