CWC meeting: Congress to focus on urban voters, assess setback in states won before Lok Sabha polls

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge opened the extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting today in New Delhi, marking the party's first such gathering following the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Kharge began by expressing heartfelt gratitude to the Congress leaders and millions of workers nationwide for their unwavering determination and hard work over the past few months.

In his opening remarks, Kharge said, “The public has given a strong reply to dictatorial powers and anti-constitutional forces by expressing faith in us. The voters of India have rejected the BJP's 10 years of divisive, hateful, and polarising politics.”

On behalf of the CWC, Kharge congratulated the newly elected Congress members of the Lok Sabha “who fought and won the elections in adverse circumstances”.

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Kharge thanked former party president Sonia Gandhi for her active participation in election preparations and alliance meetings and congratulated senior leader Rahul Gandhi for making the “Constitution, economic inequality, unemployment and social justice and harmony a public issue.”

Highlighting the impact of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Kharge mentioned significant increases in vote percentages and seats for the Congress Party in areas where the yatra passed. He cited Manipur as an example, where the party won both seats, and noted victories in other North-Eastern states like Nagaland, Assam, and Meghalaya. In Maharashtra, the Congress emerged as the largest party.

Kharge also pointed out the party's improved performance among SC, ST, OBC, and minority voters, as well as in rural areas. However, he acknowledged the need for greater efforts to strengthen the party's influence among urban voters and to address underperformance in certain states where the Congress had previously done well in Vidhan Sabha elections but failed to replicate that success in the Lok Sabha.

“We will soon discuss all these things separately. We will also take whatever immediate steps are required,” he said.

He appreciated the contributions of the INDIA bloc partners and stressed the importance of maintaining unity and collective action both in and outside Parliament.

“I will be failing in my duty if I don’t acknowledge the INDIA alliance partners, in which each party played its designated role in different states, each party contributed to the other. Our determination is that the INDIA group must continue. We must function cohesively and collectively both in parliament and outside,” the Congress president said.

“The important issues on which we went into the election campaign are issues of concern to the common people. Therefore, they will always remain in our mind. We will continue to raise these questions of the people in and outside the Parliament,” Kharge added.