Jolted by the state election losses, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) met in Delhi on Thursday for four hours straight, to strategise for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The CWC meet, which was attended by Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, party president Mallikarjun Kharge and several other leaders, saw a discussion on how to balance the INDIA alliance in a way that is beneficial for the Congress party. In the course of the discussion, it was decided that the party will organise a rally of a relatively bigger scale in Nagpur on 28 December, which is Congress’ foundation day. Usually, the Congress has stuck to a small celebration at its headquarters in New Delhi on the occasion. This time, however, the rally will be attended by several lakh workers, and will be named ‘Hain Taiyyar Hum’ or ‘We Are Ready’, referring to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, which are less than 6 months away.
Bharat Jodo Yatra 2.O
Before the CWC members could discuss the 2024 polls preparation, president Kharge began the meeting with a request that Rahul Gandhi hit the road again, with a Bharat Jodo Yatra 2.O, this time from East to West. Kharge said he has received many messages from party workers that a yatra from Gandhi will be beneficial in enthusing the cadre ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, and in light of the 3 state losses earlier this month.
While the party hasn’t yet officially announced the dates of the yatra, sources said that tentatively a 2-month long yatra between 15 January and 15 March is being considered.
Sources said Gandhi had the yatra’s east to west version in mind for a while now, and has been thinking of executing it. “After the Congress president, all the CWC members, unanimously also requested Rahul Gandhi to do the Yatra. The details of the Yatra and the decision of the Yatra will be taken without any delay,” KC Venugopal, Congress General Secretary, told the media after the meeting.
The CWC went on for four hours, and saw the participation of 76 Congress members, including the special invitees.
2024 Poll Plan and INDIA Bloc
Besides discussing the election plans, the INDIA alliance was also heavily discussed in the meeting. Some leaders expressed concerns about how seat sharing will work out in states like West Bengal, Punjab, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, which have a strong regional leadership. Others also pointed out that the Congress’ losses in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan will weaken its bargaining power within INDIA bloc.
However, in response Gandhi as well Kharge pointed out that the Congress has maintained its vote share in all 3 states, and has marginally increased it in Rajasthan. Thus, the party should take the losses in its stride, and work to strengthen the Congress-supporting population to continue its support for Lok Sabha. Voters tend to vote differently in Lok Sabha and stat elections, Gandhi pointed out, sources said.
The leadership also pointed out that the Congress managed to win Telangana by a big margin, where it was on the third spot till the last election and had also lost deposits on many seats. Sonia Gandhi, however, said that every state works differently and introspection must be done on the failures. A day before the CWC meet, Sonia Gandhi had chaired the Congress Parliamentary Party meet where she said that calling the losses a disappointment “would be an understatement.”
Kharge asked for an update on the state-wise review of Congress’ units ahead of the 2024 polls, to which he was told that in 23 states the review has been completed, and 5 more states are remaining, which will soon be completed.
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