After the defeat in the Goa assembly polls, Congress on Thursday said the election results are contrary to the party's expectations, but it accepts the people's mandate.
Addressing a press conference, Goa Congress election in-charge P Chidambaram said, "We accept the verdict of the people of Goa. Our candidates fought bravely, despite several obstacles. People have voted BJP to power and we accept that. In several constituencies, we lost with very small margins.
He said that it was disappointing to see Congress candidates lose but they will begin the fight for the next election from tomorrow
We are disappointed that our young, fresh candidates who were contesting the elections for the first time have lost. They put a splendid performance. We are disappointed that they lost but we told them this is the best opportunity to stay firmly with the party, build the party and begin the fight for the next elections from tomorrow.
People but a change but in their voting behaviour, they could not bring about a change. The winning party got only 23 per cent of the votes. overwhelming numbers of voters voted against BJP but their votes got split with many parties.
Goa Congress chief Girish Chodankar said he has failed as Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president.
"I accept the responsibility for the results. I feel that I have failed as the Congress committee president and the time has come for the party to replace me. We lost 7 to 9 seats because of the split in votes between other non-BJP parties," he said.