Speaking to select mediapersons, Virbhadra Singh said, “Immediately after the defeat, I took no time to resign. I accepted the people’s verdict gracefully. There must have been some shortcoming of the government which led to the defeat. We have to identify these reasons and move forward. Let the state Congress make its first move. I feel the PCC president should also quit.”

Virbhadra Singh rejected the charge that only the government was to blame for the defeat and not the party. He questioned, “Where was the party during the election? Was there any strategy drawn up before the poll and implemented; who else other than me campaigned in all the 68 Assembly constituencies?”

“One can’t make a distinction whether it’s the government or the party responsible for losing the polls,” he added.

Virbhadra Singh said he was disappointed after the defeat, but not disheartened, adding that the Congress’ vote bank was intact as the party lost only 2 per cent votes, which was due to the BSP. He felt wrong selection of candidates in some constituencies also attributed to the defeat to some extent, arguing how could fingers be raised against him when candidates fielded against his wishes could not muster even 5 to 10 per cent of votes.

Regarding the selection of CLP leader, the former chief minister said he had already made it clear to the high command that he was not keen and someone more suitable be chosen to lead the party in the House. He, however, refused to take any names, though he recalled that former minister Kaul Singh Thakur had been very effective when the BJP was in power during 1998-2003.

When contacted on phone, PCC president Viplove Thakur said she had still not decided on convening a party meeting to analyse the cause of the defeat. She also left the selection of the CLP leader on the high command.