Communal remarks by senior leaders led to Congress' UP poll debacle: Antony panel

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The panel headed by Defence Minister A.K. Antony to review the Congress' poor showing in elections to five states has pointed out that 'communal remarks' by senior leaders of the party led to the defeat in UP polls.

It is said the members of the review panel would meet the party general secretary Digvijay Singh to present their detailed report on Wednesday.

According to the three-member panel, the party's efforts to woo UP's minority vote bank with senior leaders making statements perceived as communal had led to adverse impact on the Uttar Pradesh polls.

Moreover, Congress Party's dependence on Muslim leaders in Western UP did not fetch much dividends in the polls.

The Antony-led panel found that the Congress relied much on the caste factor in Uttar Pradesh, but did not play the cards effectively to reap poll dividends. Further, it said tickets were given to party outsiders which were not acceptable to the partymen.

In Goa, the panel found the mining scam hit the Congress hard in the elections as the 'corruption taint' was too difficult to shed off. Also, the party did not get the support of the church and minority groups in Goa elections.

In Punjab, the Congress was unable to highlight the corruption issues against the Badal government which was able to overcome the anti-incumbency factor to retain power in the state.

The informal committee headed by Antony was seen as an effort by the party to set its house in order by drawing on lessons from its drubbing in Assembly polls to five states before getting ready for the Lok Sabha elections in 2014.