People have voted for 'change': Congress leadership on poll results

New Delhi: With Congress losing power in Maharashtra and Haryana, its President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi said that the party will now play a "constructive and vigilant role" in the two states where the people have voted for "change" after 15 and 10 years.

Congratulating BJP for its success, the Congress leadership also expected that parties forming the government will "fulfill the promises that they made". "The Congress party accepts the election verdict delivered by the people of Maharashtra and Haryana with humility and resolves to play a constructive and vigilant role.

"The people of Maharasthra and Haryana trusted us with their mandate thrice and twice respectively. We hope that parties forming the government will fulfill the promises that they made," Sonia Gandhi said in a statement.

She also thanked the supporters and voters of Congress for having stood by the party and the workers in particular for their "tireless and unstinting commitment" to the party and its ideology. In his statement, Rahul Gandhi said, "We accept the verdict of people. People have voted for change, after 15 years of our government in Maharashtra and 10 years in Haryana."

Unfazed by the rout, Rahul said that the party will work hard to regain the confidence of the people as he congratulated BJP. "I congratulate the BJP on their success. The Congress party will work hard on the ground to once again earn the confidence of the people".

AICC General Secretary Shakeel Ahmed for Haryana said that the party will sit and analyse the causes of the "below- expected performance". Taking responsibility for Congress' rout in Maharashtra Assembly polls, former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said the party's performance was "disappointing" though it did recover some ground since the Lok Sabha election.

The reactions by the Congress leadership came as it became abundantly clear that a Modi wave has spurred BJP into top position in Maharashtra and Haryana. While BJP appears poised to get a majority on its own in Haryana, it has emerged as single largest pasty in Maharashtra where the Assembly election threw up a hung verdict.