MP Congress chief owns up responsibility for party's debacle in state

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Jitu Patwari on Saturday took the responsibility of party's humiliating washout in the Lok Sabha elections in the state.

Patwari, who along with other senior party leaders was in New Delhi to attend the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, said being the state unit head, he won't run away from accepting the responsibility.

"Being the state president, I can't make excuses. Whatever the situation was, but I was state president, so I take responsibility for it (loss)," Patwari said talking to the Press in Delhi.

After the Congress witnessed a complete washout in Madhya Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections, the infighting of the state unit came to the fore as some of the leaders raised questions about Jitu Patwari's working pattern.

Senior party leader Ajay Singh (Rahul) has demanded the All India Congress Committee (AICC) leadership to review the tenure of state party chief Jitu Patwari.

However, at the Press conference held following the CWC meeting in New Delhi, AICC general secretary (organisation), KC Venugopal said, "Congress president has decided to form a committee that would visit the states where the party's performance was very poor."

Notably, the Congress in Madhya Pradesh lost all 29 Lok Sabha seats to the BJP, including Chhindwara, which it retained for the last 40 years.