NEW DELHI, OCT 14: Orissa Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang said today that infighting in the the state unit of the Congress played a major role in the party's disastrous performance in the Lok Sabha elections but ruled out his resignation owing responsibility for the defeat.Speaking to The Indian Express in the Capital, where he had come to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Gamang said that while squabbling and factionalism within the party's state unit was not new, this time round the party clearly lacked the will to fight the election unitedly. The Congress was able to win only two of the 21 seats in the state, in a virtual rout at the hustings.He dismissed demands from some of the party's frontal organisations in the state for his resignation from the post of Chief Minister in the wake of the dismal electoral performance as unjustified.``The election results are not a referendum on my leadership. I was made Chief Minister of the state because it was long due to me,'' Gamang, whoreplaced J.B. Patnaik around eight months back, said.He said that his predecessor's decision of enhancing the salaries of teachers and police personnel at a cost of Rs 130 crore to the exchequer cost the party dear at the elections.This was because while the decision was taken just before Patnaik resigned, the state government was not in a position to implement it, alienating most of the teacher community and other state government employees.Although Gamang said that he had met Sonia and explained the situation in the state, he admitted that with assembly elections due in March next year, his task was not going to be easy. But Gamang is confident of his party doing well in the assembly polls. ``I was sent to Orissa as Chief Minister to ensure that the party did well in the assembly elections. The Lok Sabha elections came up suddenly before I could firmly settle down. ``I am still a plus for the Congress party in the state and will continue as Chief Minister as long as I have relevance. I have noproblem of acceptability,'' he asserted.He said his vote against the BJP-led Government during the no-confidence motion in March this year was made into a big controversy by the Opposition in the state which said his vote was ``undemocratic and immoral.'' This, along with the issue of Sonia's foreign origins, was exploited to the full by the BJP-BJD combine.Meanwhile, the introspection committee appointed by Sonia to look into the party's worst-ever electoral debacle met for the first time today to chalk out its terms of reference. The committee, headed by A.K. Antony, has among its members, Mani Shankar Aiyar, K.P. Singhdeo, P.M. Sayeed, Santosh Chaudhary, P.R. Dasmunshi and K.A. Sangatam, all freshly elected MPs.The committee will conduct a state-wise survey of the factors leading to the party's reverses and suggest organisational changes which are required. It is to submit its report to the party president by November 30 this year.Meanwhile, pressure on the Congress party to part ways with theRashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in Bihar mounted today with senior party leaders from the state meeting Sonia Gandhi on the issue.Party sources said that BPCC president Sadanand Singh and state CLP leader Ramashrya Prasad Singh briefed Sonia on the scenario in Bihar and urged her to snap ties with Laloo Yadav if the party was to stand a chance in the coming assembly elections.
