CWC meeting: Congress leaders discuss strategy for 2024 Lok Sabha polls
“We have learnt valuable lessons from the mistakes we have made and are committed to avoiding a recurrence of them,” Kharge told the meeting.
From left: Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and KC Venugopal at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in New Delhi on Thursday (December 21).
Congress leaders met in New Delhi on Thursday (December 21) to discuss a strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha battle, with president Mallikarjun Kharge saying the party has learnt “valuable lessons” from the electoral rout in the Hindi heartland.
The leaders also pored over plans on sharing the Lok Sabha seats across the country with allies in the INDIA coalition to take on the might of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its partners.
The discussions took place at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), attended by Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi as well as Rahul Gandhi among others.
The meeting of the Congress' highest decision-making body was the first after the party lost Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and failed to take power in Madhya Pradesh in a make-or-break showdown with the BJP.
“We have learnt valuable lessons from the mistakes we have made and are committed to avoiding a recurrence of them,” Kharge told the meeting.
He said the Lok Sabha elections were not too far, and “we don’t have much time left.
Kharge’s views
“I would urge everyone to concentrate on actionable points and the necessary steps that can be taken for the upcoming general elections.”
Kharge said that despite the defeats in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the Congress vote share “gives us a definite hope that given due attention, we can certainly turn things around”.
The Congress has maintained that its morale is not down though the results of the recent Assembly polls have been very disappointing.
Sources said the top brass of the party was likely to evolve a new agenda to take on the BJP as its key thrust on caste census has failed to enthuse voters in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
On Wednesday, Sonia Gandhi told MPs at the parliamentary party meeting that the Assembly election results were very disappointing and urged them to channel their disappointment into positivity for the Lok Sabha clash next year.
"We have our task cut out both as a party in our own right and also as a member of the INDIA bloc," she added, referring to the parliamentary elections.
The Congress will hold a mega rally in Nagpur on its foundation day on December 28.
(With agency inputs)