AICC president and UPA chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday expressd her reactions over the five-state assembly elections' results declared yesterday. She ruled out any 'damage' to the UPA government in the wake of electoral outcomes in which, she said, wrong choice of candidates and weak organisation in UP played a role in the party's dismal performance.

Appearing before the media a day after the party's dismal showing in assembly elections to UP, Punjab and Goa, Gandhi said a meeting of all the leaders, including from the states, will be called to analyse the reasons. She said price rise could have been a factor for the party's poor performance in the elections and declared that the Congress has to 'pull up its socks' for the coming battles in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka.

On the party's performance in Amethi and Rae Bareli, Gandhi said there have been such defeats earlier. "People were not happy with the sitting MLAs... the new candidates won," she said. She said the party had hoped to form a government in Punjab but could not due to damage done the Punjab People's Party (PPP), floated by Akali Dal rebel Manpreet Singh Badal. On Uttarakhand, Gandhi said the Congress had the numbers and the party should be called to form the government. She said every election was a lesson and the party "will sit down, review the results and work out a plan to correct the mistakes we have made."