By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad Wednesday held discussions with party leaders in Orissa to assess the party’s debacle in the assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the state.
“Azad held meetings with office bearers as well as with the candidates who were fielded by the party in the election,” state Congress spokesperson Kailash Acharya told IANS.
“There was a general consensus among the participants that the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) misused the government machinery in the election and also replaced electronics voting machines in different places to ensure its victory,” he said.
Azad, who is also the union minister for health and family welfare and All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in charge of Orissa, was expected to meet senior party leaders in the state late night, he said.
The Congress won only 27 of the state’s 147 assembly seats and six of the 21 Lok Sabha constituencies. The BJD led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik bagged 103 assembly and 14 Lok Sabha seats.