There was discussion on Thursday over the defeat of Congress in the elections of three states including Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Kamal Nath was the biggest target in the Congress Working Committee meeting, on whose basis the party hoped to get power in Madhya Pradesh.
Where BJP has been in power for the last 20 years. Nevertheless, Congress suffered a crushing defeat here and its impact was visible in the meeting as well.
On one hand, many leaders targeted Kamal Nath, while some leaders appealed to Rahul Gandhi to start the second phase of Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Many leaders demanded that a decision on the candidates for the Lok Sabha elections should be taken on time.
In this meeting, Rahul Gandhi admitted that the party did not campaign well in three states, whereas good efforts were made in Telangana. In the meeting, many leaders pointed out the shortcomings of Kamal Nath and some even of Digvijay Singh.
Both these leaders were given command in Madhya Pradesh and Rahul Gandhi also spent very little time here. Former CM Bhupesh Baghel was also the target of Chhattisgarh, where Congress was assuming its victory.
During this time it was also discussed that Kamal Nath and Bhupesh Baghel were not listening to other leaders. Even Kamal Nath had ignored the central leadership.
Mallikarjun Kharge also raised questions on Kamal Nath’s strategy during this period. He said that many times Kamal Nath left the meeting when he appeared to disagree with the advice. Mukul Wasnik even raised questions on the slogan.
He said that there was also a slogan in the election ‘Jai-Jai Kamal Nath’. It was as if the elections were being fought in the name of Kamal Nath only and the party had no significance in it.
During this it was also discussed that the vote percentage of Congress in all the three states remained almost the same as before. But BJP increased its strength by snatching away the votes of Bahujan Samaj Party and some tribal parties.
Digvijay Singh blamed the central leadership
During this, Digvijay Singh was seen in a different attitude and he also blamed the central leadership. He said that the Congress Committee keeps changing its general secretaries continuously.
In the meeting, Surjewala said that the booth level management of BJP was very strong. On this, Rahul Gandhi said that Congress has already defeated BJP in these states.
That’s why we definitely have some shortcomings, but the public’s support towards us remains. Meanwhile, Shashi Tharoor stressed on further planning and said that we should now start deciding the candidates for the Lok Sabha elections.
Tharoor and Priyanka said, leave the past – now focus on Lok Sabha
Tharoor said that if we decide the candidates now, they will have time to work on the ground. Priyanka Gandhi and Manish Tiwari also said similar things.
Both the leaders said that we should now gather for the Lok Sabha and should decide the candidates and campaign from now on.
Apart from this, it was also agreed to immediately start talks on seat agreement with INDIA Alliance so that a strategy can be prepared accordingly. Congress will also start preparing the manifesto soon.