Living at height of power, Congress ministers lost touch with people: MP Kodikunnil Suresh

NEW DELHI: Arrogance borne of power among its ministers was one of the main reasons behind Congress's debacle in Lok Sabha polls, an outgoing minister said today.

Congress MP Kodikunnil Suresh said that the ministers in UPA-II did not pay any heed to the people and, instead, went by what the bureaucrats said.

"When we pointed out (the faults in governance), ministers were not ready to listen to us. They were living at the height of power. They only went by what bureaucrats told them," Suresh told reporters when asked about the reasons for Congress's worst-ever performance in Lok Sabha elections.

Suresh, one of the few Congress MPs to have been re-elected to the 16th Lok Sabha, was the Minister of State for Labour in the outgoing UPA-II government.

He also lamented the outgoing government's decision to deregulate the prices of petroleum products, saying it created a bad impression about the government among the people.

"The government gave a free hand to petroleum companies to determine petrol prices. The petroleum minister had to remain a mute spectator when petroleum companies increased the prices of petroleum products.

"That created a negative impression about the government in the minds of the people," said Suresh, who has retained his Mavelikkara Lok Sabha seat.