Cong candidates list soon, vows to bolster opposition unity

The Congress on Thursday said its candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls will be decided “very soon” and asserted that it would take all necessary steps to make the INDIA bloc an effective bulwark against the ruling BJP and its allies.

During a four-hour meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) here at the AICC headquarters, former party chief Rahul Gandhi was requested to undertake Bharat Jodo Yatra 2.0 from east to west and the proposal is being “considered with positive intent”, a senior leader said.

Asked about the possibility of such a yatra, which was mentioned by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge in his initial remarks at the CWC meet, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said a decision on it will be taken “without any delay”.

The opposition party also vowed to concentrate on “actionable points” and said its alliance committee is in the process of taking feedback from states for moving forward on seat sharing with the other INDIA bloc constituents.

It has also been decided that January onwards, party workers’ conventions will be held in various states, in which the president and other leaders will participate.

Addressing a press conference alongside All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh after the meeting, Venugopal asserted that the party would be in the election mode without any delay and the candidates for the Lok Sabha polls would be decided “very soon” with the screening committee being constituted this month.

He also said the manifesto committee for the general election would be formed in a day or two.

Asked about seat sharing among the INDIA bloc partners, Venugopal said the Congress has already constituted an alliance committee and it has been given a clear direction by the party chief that discussions on alliances have to start this month itself.

“They (the committee) are in the process of calling the state units and taking their views. After that there will be a conversation with the allies also,” he said after the meeting of the Congress’s highest decision-making body, which was chaired by Kharge.

Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were among the 76 leaders who attended the meeting that saw a discussion on recent Assembly poll results, the Lok Sabha election and the current political situation in the country, including issues related to Parliament.

In his remarks at the CWC meet, Kharge said the Congress has learnt valuable lessons from the recent Assembly polls and urged the party workers to focus on the Lok Sabha election. The Congress is committed to not repeating the same mistakes, he said.

This is the first CWC meeting after the party’s debacle in the Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan polls. The Congress, however, won the electoral battle in Telangana.

At the meeting, the party’s top brass discussed the Assembly poll results and the in-charges of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan explained the reasons behind the disappointing performance.

Noting that the outcomes of the elections were “disappointing”, Kharge said the Congress has conducted a preliminary analysis of the results and identified the reasons behind its poor performance.

With inputs from News18

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