New Delhi: The Congress Working Committee (CWC) convened at the AICC headquarters on Thursday for a meeting that lasted four hours to discuss the plans for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the lessons to be learnt from the recent poll drubbing. This is the first CWC meeting after the party's debacle in the Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan polls. The Congress, however, won the electoral battle in Telangana.
The party stated that the candidates for the LS polls will be decided "very soon" and asserted that it would take all necessary steps to make the INDIA bloc an effective bulwark against the ruling BJP and its allies.
Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were among the 76 leaders who attended the meeting that saw a discussion on recent Assembly poll results, the Lok Sabha election and the current political situation in the country, including issues related to Parliament.
Bharat Jodo Yatra 2.0
During the meeting, former party chief Rahul Gandhi was requested to undertake Bharat Jodo Yatra 2.0 from east to west and the proposal is being "considered with positive intent", a senior leader said.
Asked about the possibility of such a yatra, which was mentioned by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge in his initial remarks at the CWC meet, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said a decision on it will be taken "without any delay". Asked about the Bharat Jodo Yatra 2.0 proposal, Venugopal said, "The Congress president told Rahul Gandhiji that he is getting the feedback from party workers and leaders from across the country that he should do a second yatra from east to west and after that, all the CWC members unanimously requested him for the same. The details of the yatra (if it takes place) ... and the decision on the yatra will be taken without any delay," he added.
INDIA bloc to fight BJP
The opposition party asserted that it would take all necessary steps to make the INDIA bloc an effective force against the BJP and its allies, while vowing to be fully prepared at the earliest to fight the Lok Sabha election.
The Congress expressed its firmest resolve to be fully prepared to fight the general election as a party as well as a member of the INDIA bloc, it said. The CWC members were also urged to launch election campaigns in states.
The opposition party also vowed to concentrate on "actionable points" and said its alliance committee is in the process of taking feedback from states for moving forward on seat sharing with the other INDIA bloc constituents.
It has also been decided that January onwards, party workers' conventions will be held in various states, in which the president and other leaders will participate.
Addressing a press conference alongside All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh after the meeting, Venugopal asserted that the party would be in the election mode without any delay. He also said the manifesto committee for the general election would be formed in a day or two.
Venugopal said the Congress has already constituted an alliance committee and it has been given a clear direction by the party chief that discussions on alliances have to start this month itself.
"They (the committee) are in the process of calling the state units and taking their views. After that there will be a conversation with the allies also," he said after the meeting of the Congress's highest decision-making body, which was chaired by Kharge.
Lessons from Assembly polls
In his remarks at the CWC meet, Kharge said the Congress has learnt valuable lessons from the recent Assembly polls and urged the party workers to focus on the Lok Sabha election. The Congress is committed to not repeating the same mistakes, he said.
At the meeting, the party's top brass discussed the Assembly poll results and the in-charges of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan explained the reasons behind the disappointing performance.
Noting that the outcomes of the elections were "disappointing", Kharge said the Congress has conducted a preliminary analysis of the results and identified the reasons behind its poor performance.
"Despite the results, there are some positive indicators, such as the vote share in these states, that give us definite hope that given due attention, we can certainly turn things around," he said.
"We have learnt valuable lessons from the mistakes we have made and are committed to not repeating them," Kharge asserted.
He said the fourth meeting of the Indian National Inclusive Developmental Alliance (INDIA) was held on December 19 and it was unanimously decided that the seat-sharing talks must start immediately.
"The Lok Sabha election is not too far, we do not have much time left. I would urge everyone to concentrate on the actionable points and necessary steps that can be taken for the upcoming general election," the Congress chief said.
'Suspension of MPs part of conspiracy'
On the suspension of opposition MPs from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha over the last eight days, Kharge alleged that it was part of a "conspiracy" to convert Parliament into a platform for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In a resolution that was passed unanimously after the CWC meet, the party also alleged that the suspension of MPs from Parliament was done to ensure that the opposition was not present to challenge the Narendra Modi government "as it bulldozed three draconian criminal justice laws through".
(With PTI inputs.)
