The Congress, which suffered a rout in Maharashtra civic polls, today said it will introspect on the reasons for the loss, even as the issue of infighting continued to haunt the grand old party.
"We will introspect. We will look for the reasons why Congress party did not do as well. We need to sit down and introspect about the reasons," Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.
"We will rebuild our cadre, we will look at the reasons and we will ensure that Congress party emerges out stronger as a voice of people of Mumbai," he said.
However, senior party leader Milind Deora said the Congress failed to check infighting and expose the Shiv Sena-BJP's backdoor alliance and inspire the people of Mumbai.
"Sadly, Congress failed to halt infighting, play up local issues, expose Shiv Sena-BJP's backdoor alliance and inspire Mumbai to vote for change," the former Congress MP from South Mumbai said.
Deora later tweeted, "Congress needs to regain Mumbai's trust and re-establish relevance by replacing current urban narrative with a more credible alternative one."
Congratulating the BJP and the Shiv Sena for their good performance in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls, Surjewala said the two parties will now have to provide good governance and fulfil their promises made to people of Mumbai.
He said the Congress, as a responsible party, will sit in opposition and continue to strive for all the issues dear to the public.
The Congress was routed in civic polls in Maharashtra, with BJP winning 82 seats in the fiercely fought BMC polls, just two seats behind the estranged saffron ally Shiv Sena. Both, however, were well short of the magic figure of 114 needed to control the civic body.
In the counting of votes held today, the Congress was relegated to the third position with 31 seats, whereas the NCP and Raj Thackeray's MNS were reduced to single digit figures of 9 and 7 seats, respectively.
Surjewala said, "We humbly accept the verdict of the people of Mumbai. Why we were unable to win over the hearts of the people of Mumbai and why we could not win more seats despite the fact that Shiv Sena and BJP have jointly ruled over BMC for last 20 years."
He said one thing is extremely clear that in BMC, Shiv Sena and BJP have ruled together for last 20 years, but the problems of people of Mumbai, be it potholes, be it drinking water, be it immeasurable traffic, be it transparency and absence of corruption, be it excessive regulatory controls has not ended.
The Congress leader also took strong exception to the use
of money power in Mumbai civic polls and taking away of voting rights of lakhs of people and said it is the Shiv Sena and BJP which is now to stand test of people by fulfilling promises made to them.
He claimed the Shiv Sena called the BJP "Bharatiya Goonda party", which, in turn, called its estranged ally "the mafia", Surjewala wondered, "Will the 'Bharatiya Goonda party' and 'the mafia' once again run the BMC and live up to public's expectations?"
To the question of Sanjay Nirupam's resignation, he said, "He (Nirupam) has offered to resign. The party will take an appropriate decision at the right time."
Meanwhile, Deora also congratulated the Shiv Sena and BJP for retaining BMC, saying "For Mumbai's sake, earnestly hope the next 5 years are better than the last two decades."
"Conclusion one can draw from BMC election results is that Mumbaikars seem content living with potholes, flooding, malaria and water tankers," he tweeted.
He also appealed to the Congress' elected Municipal Councillors to play the role of an active, responsible opposition and ensure that Mumbai got her due.
