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Congress's top decision-making body to meet Sunday to discuss election defeats
The outcome of the Assembly polls was a shock to the Congress, which was hoping to do well to revive its prospects ahead of the 2024 national election.
The Congress' top decision-making body, the Congress Working Committee (CWC), will meet at 4pm Sunday to discuss the party's performance in the five recently-held Assembly elections and the current political situation. The meeting will take place at the party's office in Delhi, news agency ANI reported. The outcome of the Assembly polls held in five states, including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, came as a shock to the Congress which had hoped for a good performance to revive its prospects ahead of the 2024 national election, and emerge as a strong alternative to the ruling Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance at the centre.
Tomorrow's meeting has been called a day after a group of senior Congress leaders – who are also part of G-23 that had written to Sonia Gandhi in 2020, suggesting sweeping changes in the party – met at Ghulam Nabi Azad's residence to discuss the party's performance in Assembly and Parliamentary elections. The leaders met following the party's humiliating defeat in the elections in the five states.
According to ANI, during the meet a few leaders suggested skipping the CWC meet as they felt no serious issues would be discussed. Those present at the G-23 meeting included Bhupender Singh Hooda, Manish Tewari, Kapil Sibal, Anand Sharma and Akhilesh Prasad Singh.
The G-23 leaders, many of whom are also members of the CWC, are expected to raise their demand for reforms in the party during tomorrow's meeting, ANI cited sources.
While the outcome of the CWC is awaited, the G-23 leaders are expected to meet again in the next few days.
Congress had said on Thursday that the results of five states were against the expectations of the party. The party had also indicated the clashing ambitions of its leaders had hurt its prospects.
Party leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said there was a need to "seriously introspect, re-examine, re-think" whether the race for political positions "is undermining the position of the party to an extent where we end up helping the cause of our opposition and where we end up causing loss to the Congress party".
He said this question needs to be answered "not only in Punjab, not only in Uttarakhand, not only in Goa, but across the country".
Surjewala also talked of anti-incumbency in Punjab, which was ruled by Congress. "In Punjab, Congress presented a new leadership through Charanjit Singh Channi who is the son of the soil, but the entire anti-incumbency of 4.5 years under Captain Amarinder Singh could not be overcome and hence people voted for AAP for change," he said.
(With agency inputs)
