Sunday, 13 March 2022 | PNS | Dehradun
Taking the responsibility for the party’s performance in the State’s Assembly elections, the Pradesh Congress Committee president Ganesh Godiyal said that if asked by the party high command, he will resign from his post. He said that he will resign from the post of PCC president to strengthen the party for the ultimate aim of the betterment of the state. Godiyal said this while addressing the media for the first time after declaration of the Assembly election results which saw the Congress winning 19 seats contrary to its expectation of securing a majority and forming the next government in Uttarakhand.
Godiyal said, “For the past five years, the Congress has been strongly raising the voice of the people but the election results were not in our favour. I was hoping that we would definitely be able to explain the reality to the people but we failed in doing so. As the PCC president I was also unsuccessful in doing so. Our senior leader and campaign committee chief Harish Rawat took responsibility for the defeat and I add myself to it- taking the responsibility for the results. The public had a golden opportunity which was lost. We were ready to sincerely fulfill the promises we had made. We wanted to provide jobs to four lakh youths to light up their Diwali. We dreamt of providing Rs 40,000 annual assistance to the poor and we were determined to not allow the price of gas cylinder to go beyond Rs 500. My personal dream was to resolve unemployment which I saw was the biggest problem in the state during my travels across Uttarakhand. Sadly this has been deferred for five years.”
Acknowledging that the BJP had achieved major success, he congratulated the rival party for its electoral success while expressing the hope that the Congress MLAs will play the role of a diligent opposition, raise public interest issues and force the government to do what is good for the state and the people. The PCC chief said, “We will not forgive the government on corruption issues. We will play the role of an aware opposition. While we thank the people of the state for supporting and guiding us enthusiastically in the election process, we understand that the poll results were not in our favour and that we have to look for our weakness and improve upon them. We are determined and will continue to fight for our principles undeterred by such challenges.”
Elaborating on the results contradicting the expectations of the party, he said that unemployment is a major problem in the state and that he too was unable to ascertain why the results were so- the Congress will check this too. On the subject of whether a chief ministerial face should have been projected by the Congress, he said that it will be known after deliberations within the party. The party workers will gather and analyse the election results in detail after Holi, he added.
