A meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) was held on Saturday. Happy with the party’s better-than-expected performance in the Lok Sabha polls, executives praised Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Subsequently, a unanimous resolution was passed that Rahul Gandhi should assume the post of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
The mood of the Congress Working Committee was buoyant. Although the party could not reach triple digits, the group felt that the election result had “infused new life” into the party and regained its “overall revival and rejuvenation”.
Despite green shoots of revival in many states, the leadership is also concerned about the party’s poor performance in some states, particularly Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi and party-ruled Himachal Pradesh.
Party president Kharge said it was decided to set up a committee to examine the factors and causes of failure in some states and recommend measures to address the shortcomings. Sources said some of the state Congress leaders may be replaced soon. As expected, the leaders asked Rahul to lead the party from the front in the Lok Sabha and assume the post of Leader of the Opposition, which would become available after a decade.
Following this, Rahul told the meeting that he would “take a decision soon”. Kharge also said that since the decision has been passed in the Congress Working Committee meeting, Rahul should accept the post and if Rahul does not heed the decision of the Congress Working Committee, disciplinary action will be taken.
“During this election, we raised many issues in the country like unemployment, price rise, fire fighters issue, women and social justice issues. These issues should also be raised in Parliament at large. Rahul ji is the best person to lead this campaign inside Parliament. “This is the vision of EC,” All India Congress General Secretary (Organization) KC Venugopal said after the meeting.
“In the current climate of Indian politics, the entire CWC feels that for a better and stronger conscious opposition, those who want to protect the Constitution should be safe under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi as the Leader of the Opposition,” he said.
Rahul has also been pressured not to vacate the Raebareli constituency considering the mood swings in Uttar Pradesh and the Hindi heartland. In Uttar Pradesh, Congress won six seats while its ally Samajwadi Party won 37 seats. Besides, Congress has won Hindi speaking states like Bihar, Rajasthan and Haryana.
Sources said he is mulling over vacating Wayanad, where he was re-elected for a second term, but has not taken a final decision. In the evening, the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) met and re-elected Sonia Gandhi as its leader. The CWC reiterated that the Lok Sabha election verdict was a decisive rejection of the BJP’s style and substance of governance.
“The people’s verdict is not just a political loss but a personal and moral failure for the Prime Minister who took the mandate in his name and ran a campaign anchored on lies, hatred, bigotry, divisiveness and radical bigotry. “The verdict of the people is clear against the subversion of democracy and democratic institutions that has been going on since 2014,” the Congress Working Committee resolution said.
Incidentally, the CWC noted that Indian constituency parties “performed very well” in several states such as UP, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. TMC won 29 out of 42 seats in West Bengal against BJP and Congress-Left alliance.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh informed the meeting that the revival of the party has begun.
