Thaindian News

Kanpur, March 31 (IANS) Congress president Sonia Gandhi Monday said her own party was to blame for its dismal state in Uttar Pradesh where it was the dominant force for decades. “While the rise of caste and communal forces are to blame for various ills facing Uttar Pradesh, our own party leaders too have failed to make any difference as they lacked the effort to revive the party,” she told the concluding session of a two-day party convention.

“If our rivals have been hankering after power, even some of our own party leaders have failed to rise above their vested interests,” she said.

Speaking on the need to pull up its socks, she said: “At the end of the day, we have to accept our mistakes and shortcomings for which we need to introspect and start holding the interest of the organization well above personal gains.”

Gandhi said her son and MP Rahul Gandhi kept telling her about the rising number of bogus members in the party. “We need to guard against this,” she said. “We should get more and more active people into the party fold.”