NEW DELHI: Moving with alacrity in the wake of its defeat in the Hindi heartland states,
Congress
has called a meeting of the party's apex body
CWC
on December 21, in deliberations designed to send out a message of optimism and a call to the cadres to prepare for the
Lok Sabha
elections. The CWC will be attended by the party chief ministers also, sources said.
The meeting will come two days after the deliberations of the INDIA bloc in the capital on Tuesday.
While the discussions to be attended by party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi will send out a message to the party units to start preparing for the 2024 contest, the body is also expected to put its approval on the joint opposition agenda that will be finalised on Tuesday. Seat-sharing in states, campaign theme and joint outreach are the issues likely to be discussed and clinched in the INDIA discussions.
Though Kharge and Rahul have already discussed the poll drubbing in MP, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Mizoram with the state units, the CWC may collectively weigh in on the issue. When the CWC last met before the assembly polls on October 9, it was hopeful of the party's good show in the northern states, and the big takeaway was the caste census, which the top body put its stamp on. Ever since, the party has been downcast after the assembly defeats. Interestingly, Rahul and Kharge have again spoken out in support of the caste census, suggesting that the party may go ahead with the issue as one of its agenda for future elections.
The security breach resulting in the attack on
Parliament
last week has emerged as a major trigger for confrontation between the opposition and the ruling BJP, resulting in a blockade in Parliament. The opposition may come up with the formulation that BJP is minimising the security breach for political reasons.
The planned second phase of Rahul Gandhi's yatra, likely from the north-east to west, on the issues of jobs, inflation and communal amity, may also be stamped upon by the CWC.
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