Accordingly, on Tuesday morning she held an informal meeting on Karnataka. Among the state leaders, former chief minister Dharam Singh and state Congress chief Mallikarjun Karge were present. Prithviraj Chavan, the general secretary in charge of the state was also present. S M Krishna, who was brought back from the Maharashtra Raj Bhawan , will meet Gandhi in a couple of days. Other leaders like Siddaramaiah will also come to 10 Janpath in a day or two.
The primary assessment of the top leadership of the Congress, among other reasons, also points out to the conduct of the top leaders of the state. The party has received complaints that many of them were involved in factionalism and didn't put up a unified fight against the BJP. Many in the party were particularly opposed to Krishna's return and tried to sabotage Krishna's bid to regain power. The Congress was also perceived as a party with too many chief minister candidates and this emergence of various power centres didn't help the organisation.
According to sources, the central leadership feels that Karnataka has become a major loss for the party and the UPA government given the current political situation. One UPA minister remarked, "It was our political necessity to win the polls. This will put tremendous pressure on us at the centre."