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After another rout in Delhi Assembly polls, the Congress on Saturday said it humbly accepts the decision of the people and asserted that the election result is not a vindication of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's policies but a referendum on Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party.
The party said it fought against all odds in public interest and prepared the groundwork to oust the AAP government but did not get the expected mandate.
It vowed to bounce back and form a government in the national capital in 2030.
The Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power in Delhi on Saturday after more than 26 years, sweeping away the AAP from the national capital in another big win to extend its saffron footprint in the country.
The Congress has drawn a blank in the polls once again after 2015 and 2020.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the party will continue to raise the issues of pollution, Yamuna cleaning, electricity, roads, water and development in Delhi and will remain connected with the public.
'In the Delhi Assembly elections, the Congress party created an atmosphere against the government in public interest, but the people did not give us the mandate we expected. We accept the decision of the people,' Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X.
'Every Congress leader and worker worked unitedly under adverse circumstances, but more hard work and struggle is still required,' he said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said he humbly accepts the mandate of Delhi as he thanked party workers and voters.
In a post on X, he said the fight for the progress of Delhi and against pollution, price rise and corruption will continue.
'We humbly accept the mandate of Delhi. Heartfelt thanks to all the Congress workers of the state for their dedication and all the voters for their support,' he said in his post in Hindi.
'This fight for the progress of Delhi and the rights of Delhiites, against pollution, price rise and corruption will continue,' Gandhi said.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the assembly election results reflected nothing more than a referendum on Kejriwal and AAP.
'After all, at the height of the prime minister's popularity in 2015 and 2020, AAP had won decisively in Delhi. This shows rather than being a vindication of the policies of the prime minister, this vote is a rejection of Arvind Kejriwal's politics of deceit, deception, and vastly exaggerated claims of achievement,' he said in a post on X.
The Congress took the lead in highlighting the various scams that occurred under Kejriwal and the voters pronounced their judgement on his 12 years of 'misrule', he said.
'The Congress was expecting to do better. It has, however, increased its vote share. The campaign of the Congress was vigorous. It may not be in the assembly but it is definitely a presence in Delhi, a presence that will be expanded electorally with the sustained efforts of lakhs of Congress workers,' Ramesh said.
'There will be a Congress government once again in Delhi in 2030,' he asserted.
On the criticism over not joining hands with AAP in the assembly election, Congress media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said the 'meltdown' of a section is completely bizarre and asserted that the Congress is the 'real champion of liberal values'.
'They didn't give these lectures on opposition unity to AAP when the party went to Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, etc to fight elections and weaken anti-communal, secular vote. Delhi election result is a rejection of the Trojan horse that attempted to damage the liberal cause across the country,' he said.
'Majority of liberals are rightly cheering the fall of the facade so that the real champion of liberal values - the Indian National Congress - can emerge stronger to take the BJP on and defeat it,' Khera said on X.
The Congress faced a third consecutive season of electoral drought in Delhi, failing to open its account in the 70-member Assembly and suffering crushing defeats in key constituencies.
The party has not won any seat in the three consecutive assembly elections and as many Lok Sabha polls.