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CWC to meet on December 21 for discussion on Lok Sabha polls
The CWC will review the party’s performance in the assembly elections in five states, out of which it won only in Telangana, and take stock of the current political situation.
Reeling after its defeat in the assembly polls of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the Congress party has called a meeting of its working committee on December 21 to start preparing for the 2024 national elections.
The Congress working committee (CWC) will review the party’s performance in the assembly elections in five states, out of which it won only in Telangana, and take stock of the current political situation. A number of leaders are expected to urge former party chief Rahul Gandhi to undertake a second round of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
The CWC meeting will also endorse the outcome of the fourth INDIA bloc meeting scheduled on December 19.
“The meeting is expected to focus on the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The party’s setback in the three north Indian states during the last round of assembly elections makes it even more important that we start our 2024 election preparations as early as possible,” a committee member said, declining to be named. “The morale of our workers are down. We have to address it.”
The Congress lost four of the five assembly elections but came to power in Telangana. It has won Karnataka and Telangana in south India, but its government got reduced to only Himachal Pradesh from three states in north India.
The Congress has announced two programmes—the crowd funding or “Donate for Desh” and a rally in Nagpur—to celebrate the grand old party’s 139th foundation day, another leader said, seeking anonymity. After holding the last CWC meeting in Hyderabad, the party decided to hold another important event outside Delhi in a bid to improve regional outreach.
“These two programmes underline that we have started out public outreach ahead of the 2024 election. The CWC has been called in the third week of December, as we can’t afford to sit and wait any further. We have to hit the ground in January and this might be the last CWC before the 2024 election,” the second leader said.
The INDIA meeting on December 19 is expected to set deadlines for seat- sharing talks. In the Mumbai meeting on September 1, the opposition alliance resolved to start talks at the earliest, but things didn’t move due to the polls.
“The CWC will also discuss and endorse the outcome of the INDIA meeting. The INDIA initiative has the fulling backing of the party,” the second leader said.
Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, the longest political foot march in India, was able to boost the party’s organization in many areas. There is an increasing demand for him to undertake another round of the yatra from January. “After our defeat in the assembly polls, some of us might urge Gandhi to undertake the Yatra,” a leader said, wishing to remain unnamed.
