The Congress’s defeat in three important states just months before the national election weighed heavily in a meeting of the party’s top leadership on Thursday, with Rahul Gandhi strongly emphasizing upon the need to accommodate regional parties in the fight against the BJP.
The meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) saw leaders from party chief Mallikarjun Kharge to Rahul Gandhi stressing on opposition unity to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP in the 2024 election.
The state elections were held up as an example of what not to do, especially in Madhya Pradesh, where the Congress failed to capitalise on four-term anti-incumbency. The Congress also lost power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, managing a lone win in Telangana.
Rahul Gandhi, say sources, questioned why state units were not ready to make adjustments with smaller parties to try and defeat the BJP.
Congress veteran Kamal Nath, who led the party’s flop campaign in Madhya Pradesh, came in for criticism though he was not present as he is not a CWC member. Several leaders called out what they described as his autocratic style and stubborn refusal to accept feedback or ideas.
The party believes that the losses in the three states was mainly due to the BJP collecting votes that would have gone to smaller parties.
In an apparent reference to Madhya Pradesh, where Kamal Nath famously said “Akhilesh-wakhilesh” while dismissing talk of an alliance with Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi said the Congress should have agreed to seat-sharing with smaller parties.
That cannot be termed as an intrusion, he articulated. The Congress needs to accommodate others and every percentage of vote matters in the fight against the BJP, said the MP.
Rahul Gandhi also felt that the party did not campaign properly in the three states and cited the example of Telangana, say sources, where the Congress made a remarkable comeback from third position just a year ago.
When some leaders sought to highlight the BJP’s organisational strength in all three states, Rahul Gandhi is said to have pointed out that the Congress did win all three in 2018 and that the BJP is not unbeatable.
Mallikarjun Kharge reportedly endorsed the view and said giving up four or five seats should not have been an issue in the larger interests of the party.
The Congress chief, who has been pitched as the prime ministerial face of the INDIA bloc, was said to have sent a loud and clear message to the party – lessons must be learnt from the state election verdict and the Congress has to fight unitedly with alliance partners of the INDIA bloc to take on the BJP-led NDA.
The point was reinforced in the CWC resolution, which said: “This meeting of the CWC expresses its firmest resolve to be fully prepared at the earliest to fight the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections both as a party in its own right and also as a member of the INDIA group. It reiterates the determination of the Indian National Congress to take all steps necessary to make the INDIA group an effective bulwark and force against the BJP and its allies.”
