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Addressing a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) on Wednesday, party president Sonia Gandhi called on leaders and activists to defend the UPA-II regime's policies and be a disciplined team facilitating greater interaction between Centre and the states. The meeting assumes significance in the backdrop of a standoff over the formation of National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). Warning that indiscipline cannot and would not be tolerated in the party, Gandhi said: "We must shed all manner of factional behaviour and fight as one disciplined team. That will be the single most important factor to decide whether we win or not." Gandhi said that the party must continue to give emphasis to inclusive growth, which remains its core goal. She cautioned that the party was under public scrutiny and must work hard in securing possible victories in the upcoming state assembly polls in Gujarat and Karnataka. "People look to us-- but we need to show them our commitment and our unity if we are to convert this sentiment into electoral victories," Gandhi said. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was also present at Wednesday's meeting. Commenting on the elections results in the five states, including Uttar Pradesh, where the party could not perform as expected, Gandhi said: "While we can take satisfaction in the fact that we returned to power in Manipur for the third time and formed the government in Uttarakhand, the results in Punjab and Goa are very disappointing." She added: "In Uttar Pradesh, even though we did not perform as well as we had hoped to, we increased our vote share quite considerably and were seen as a serious player for the first time in 22 years. Of course there is much work to be done there as in other states." Wednesday's CPP meeting comes a few days after a high-power committee of the party led Defence Minister A.K. Antony reviewed the party's performance in the five states, and submitted its report to Gandhi. She said with a series of state elections approaching in the coming months, the partymen "must draw upon lessons of the previous polls." Gandhi urged partymen to "expose the hollow claims of opposition-rule state governments", adding that "mis-governance and corruption have been widespread in some of these states as revealed by CAG and Lokayukta reports". Gandhi said Congress units in opposition-ruled states should highlight the latter's failures. Gandhi said "Trust and cooperation must be the anchor Centre-state relations. I would like to reiterate here we are fully committed to strengthening federalism, which is a key tenet of our party's and UPA's agenda. What better evidence of this can there be than the unprecedented transfers of financial assistance from the Centre to the states these past eight years." She said that there are Centre-state issues of major national importance--such as fighting terrorism or dealing with left-wing extremism--where the "Centre cannot shirk its responsibility". Referring to the bills on food security and land acquisition, Gandhi said, "On our part, we must do all we can to ensure that the legislative process is not unduly delayed." While food security is the pet project of Sonia Gandhi led-National Advisory Council, Rahul Gandhi has been leading from the front for a new land bill. "We are awaiting the standing committee reports on a number of important legislations including those on food security and land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation," Gandhi said.

Sonia call to Congress leaders to fight as one disciplined team in state polls