New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday asked his colleagues in the Cabinet not to make promises that are unrealistic and cannot be fulfilled.
Chairing the Congress Parliamentary Party meet here, he said unlike other parties, the Congress should not make tall promises.
The Prime Minister was obviously referring to the tall promises made by the Aam Admi Party which romped home in the recent elections on promises that many claim cannot be fulfilled.
Singh said that assembly elections results in a few states are necessarily not an indication of what will happen in the general elections that follows months later.
"The general election next year will be fought on issues of national importance. While some of these very issues, may have been involved in the assembly elections, we will be judged in May by how we respond on national issues," he said.
Party president Sonia Gandhi said the recent results to the Assembly elections were disappointing and wanted the party to learn lessons from the setback and remain united.
Doing some plainspeaking, Congress President conceded that lack of discipline and unity were among the reasons for the party's debacle in Assembly polls and asked the cadre not to despair and be ready for the "battle ahead" in 2014 general elections.
While acknowledging that there are many factors for the defeat, Gandhi said, "It is obvious that we have not been able to convince the people of our policies, programmes and achievements. We have not, it seems, been able to fulfil their aspirations."
The party chief also blamed lack of a "sense of discipline and unity" among the reasons for the party's defeat in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Rajasthan. "We should not lose heart. There is another battle ahead of us, in May 2014 for which we must ready ourselves. The Congress party has won and lost many elections. In victory or defeat, we must remember that it is our solemn duty to serve people to the best of our ability," she said.
While noting that the CPP meeting is being held in "trying and challenging circumstances," Gandhi said Congress has always risen to the occasion and "no odds are insurmountable". "Adversity always tests us. And it is at such times that it is most important for us to reaffirm our unswerving allegiance to the principles of democracy, secularism, liberalism and inclusiveness. These are the abiding values of our party...the Congress way remains the only way in a country like ours defined by diversities," she said.
Claiming that Congress remains a unique political party in many ways, Gandhi said, "Let us go from here mindful of the challenges ahead but also mindful of the fact that no odds are insurmountable for a party such as ours, for a party with our legacy, with our history and with our track record of achievement." Gandhi also accused the Opposition of spending much of its time in making "vituperative and completely baseless personal attacks" on Congress and the government including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The Congress President said the party and the government can take pride in the fact that despite "very frequent disruptions," they have have been able to get landmark legislations including Lokpal, food security and land bill passed in Parliament. "Yesterday, the Rajya Sabha passed the historic Lokpal Bill and I fervently hope that it will be approved by the Lok Sabha today. This law is watershed in our fight against corruption, which we began with the historic RTI in 2005," Gandhi said.
She also expressed concern over the stalemate on the Women Reservation Bill. "I am unhappy we have not been able to get the Women's Reservation Bill passed in the Lok Sabha for want of consensus. But I know this will happen sooner than later. We can have the satisfaction of knowing that we got it approved in the Rajya Sabha," she said.
A booklet highlighting the landmarks and achievements of 10 years of Congress rule was released at the meeting.
