New Delhi, May 5 (IANS): After the dismal performance of the Congress in recent Assembly elections in five states/UT, party leader Kapil Sibal said on Tuesday that this is not the right time to discuss such issues when the nation is in the grip of pandemic.

"Everyone is concerned about the electoral outcomes now. But the country is facing a health emergency, and the issue of the party can be discussed afterwards as priority should be given to containing the pandemic now," Sibal told IANS.

Barring in Tamil Nadu, where the Congress is the junior partner in the alliance with the DMK, which has returned to power in the state after a gap of 10 years, the party failed to make an impression in West Bengal, Puducherry, Kerala and Assam.

After the declaration of results on May 2, the Congress said that the party will 'study' the results, correct its mistakes and do a course correction.

Similar reaction came from senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who also said that containing the pandemic should be the first priority now.

Meanwhile, another party leader Sandeep Dikshit on Tuesday blamed the Union government and praised Rahul Gandhi, saying "when Rahul Gandhi knew about the Tsunami (of Covid cases), how come the Prime Minister did not know about it with all the resources at his disposal?".

Sibal also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held the Union government responsible for the present health crisis in the country.

"The Prime Minister was more interested in campaigning while people were dying in the hospitals without oxygen and beds," Sibal said.