Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said his party has learnt "valuable lessons" from debacles in the recently held Assembly elections. He also urged his party workers to focus on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2024. Addressing party leaders at a crucial meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), Kharge claimed that the Congress party is committed to not repeating the same mistakes.
Kharge said several Congress leaders support Rahul Gandhi to undertake another 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' from east to west but the final decision is up to him and the CWC, the Congress' highest decision-making body.
'Congress did preliminary analysis of results'
Noting that Telangana was the exception to the five states' "disappointing" election results, Kharge said the Congress had done a preliminary analysis of the results and identified the causes of its underwhelming 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. We have learnt valuable lessons from the mistakes we have made and are committed to not repeating them," he added.
This is the first CWC meeting after the Congress' recent poll debacle. The assembly elections were held in five states -- Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram. The Congress won only in Telangana. While the BJP swept Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the Zoram People's Movement won in Mizoram.
Kharge on suspension of Opposition MPs
On the suspension of Opposition MPs from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha over the last eight days, Kharge alleged it was part of a "conspiracy" to convert the Parliament into a platform for the ruling party. He also accused the BJP of trying to take over institutions like the Election Commission and said the government has put the Constitution, the Parliament and democracy in danger.
"The biggest challenge is that the people holding constitutional positions, who are responsible for providing protection to the Opposition MPs, are themselves becoming a part of party politics and doing politics using caste, region and occupation as their shield. "They have failed to fulfil their obligations under the Constitution. The whole country is watching it," he added.
Lok Sabha elections 2024
It should be noted here that general elections are expected to be held in India between April and May 2024 to elect the members of the 18th Lok Sabha. The tenure of the 17th Lok Sabha is scheduled will end in June 2024. The previous general elections were held in April–May 2019. After the elections, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance formed the government at the Centre, with Narendra Modi continuing as Prime Minister for the second straight term.
(With inputs from PTI)
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