A meeting of the Congress Working Committee chaired by party president Mallikarjun Kharge was organised in New Delhi on Saturday. The meeting saw the presence of the grand old party's top brass, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress general secretaries K C Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh, among others.
In his opening remarks, Kharge stated that while the Congress must celebrate its revival, it should also pause to reflect a little since it failed to perform as per the expectations and its abilities in some states. He also stated that the Lok Sabha elections result showcased the "decisive rejection of the politics of hate and divisiveness".
"People have spoken against the dictatorial and anti-democratic ways of the ruling party. It is a decisive rejection of the politics of the last 10 years. It is rejection of the politics of divisiveness, hate and polarisation," Kharge said.
Kharge Asks Congress To Reflect On Its Peformance
The Congress chief, while stating that the party did not do well in states where it had performed well in the 2019 elections said: "While we celebrate the revival, we should pause a little as in some states we have not performed to our abilities and expectations. Further, we could not repeat our performance in states where we had previously done well in Vidhan Sabha elections and formed the government."
Mentioning that a state-wise discussion of the party's performance is in the pipeline, Kharge said: "We will soon be holding separate discussions on each such state. We have to take urgent remedial measures. These are states which have traditionally favoured Congress, where we have opportunities which we have to harness not for our own advantage but for the benefit of our people. This exercise I propose to hold very soon."
He also stressed that the I.N.D.I.A bloc must continue to function cohesively both inside and outside Parliament.
The Congress President also said: "We must be disciplined, must be united. The People have reposed their faith back in us in substantial measures and we must build on it. We accept this verdict with genuine humility."
'Voter Percentage Increased Wherever Bharat Jodo Yatra Went'
Claiming Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra as the reason behind Congress's increased vote share in some states, Kharges said: "I want to draw your attention to the fact that wherever Bharat Jodo Yatra went we saw an increase in the vote percentage and number of seats for the Congress party."
He further elaborated saying, "In Manipur, we won both the seats. We also won seats in Nagaland, Assam, and Meghalaya. In Maharashtra, we emerged as the single-largest party. People from all walks of life supported the congress party to save the country’s democracy and constitution. Other than this, we saw an increase in seats dominated by SC, ST, OBC, and Minority voters as well as in Rural areas. Going forward, we have to make our presence felt in urban areas as well."
'We Must Stay United & Disciplined': Kharge
Kharge further went on to say that a party must continue to work amongst people 24 hours, 365 days, and raise their issues even if it's not in power.
"We must be disciplined, must be united. The People have reposed their faith back in us in substantial measures and we must build on it. We accept this verdict with genuine humility. Whether we are in power or not, Congress party's work continues. We have to work amongst our people 24 hours, 365 days and raise their issues," he said.
At the meeting, the Congress Working Committee also congratulated the leaders and workers for as Kharge said "Our determination is that the INDIA group must continue. We must function cohesively and collectively both in Parliament and outside."
Apart from the leaders of the grand old party and opposition alliance, Kharge also thanked farmers, civil society groups, organisations working for backward classes, NGOs, small groups of traders, intellectuals, lawyers, and independent media, for their contribution in the Lok Sabha elections.
Another meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party comprising all newly-elected MPs of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha is also scheduled to be held today at the Central Hall of Parliament at 5.30 PM, news agency PTI reported.