The sudden jolt in its victory march has shocked the Gujarat Congress leadership into groping for reasons following the loss of five of the six previously held Assembly seats to the BJP in the September 10 bypolls.

Senior leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Narhari Amin admits that the outcome is shocking and that the reasons being known, certain corrective measures will have to be taken.

“The defeat is shocking for us and it calls for internal strengthening. More importantly, the local workers’ voice will be heard now on and their views will have to be considered at the time of selection of the candidates,” said Amin.

He gave the example of the Jasdan seat where the party tasted defeat for the first time in six decades, saying that before being elected MP from Rajkot, Kunvarji Bavalia had promised to leave the seat for Patels. But at the time of distribution of the tickets, he ensured his daughter represented the seat. This displeased the local supporters, including Bharat Boghra who was expecting the ticket. He joined the BJP and won, Amin said.

GPCC president Siddharth Patel sounded disturbed.

Not acknowledging the internal bickering, he said the party had all along been expecting a spectacular show, adding that the results called for a thorough investigation into the reasons behind the debacle.

“We will investigate the reasons and will take necessary corrective action,” was all he said on being asked what the party planned to see that such thing was not repeated in the future.

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