Cong sets up 5-member group under Ashok Chavan to evaluate state poll debacle

The Congress on Tuesday set up a five-member group headed by former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan to evaluate the party's performance in the just-concluded assembly polls.

It comes a day after party chief Sonia Gandhi proposed at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) the formation of a group to assess the party's losses in Kerala, Assam, West Bengal and Puducherry.

"The Congress president has constituted a group to evaluate the results of the recently concluded assembly elections, with immediate effect. Ashok Chavan will be the chairman and other members of the group are Salman Khurshid, Manish Tewari, Vincent H Pala and Jothi Mani," an official statement from AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said.

The group will submit its report within two weeks, the communication further said.

The Congress chief had on Monday said the party has to put its house in order by facing reality and drawing lessons from the "serious setbacks".