Mallikarjun Kharge critiques Cong performance at CWC meet, says Maha defeat holds a message
Kharge said the atmosphere was in favour of the Congress during the elections “but the atmosphere being in our favour is not a guarantee of victory”
NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday urged party workers to begin preparations for the Delhi and Bihar elections due next year, cautioned that a favourable atmosphere ahead of polls does not always translate into victory and called on leaders to identify local issues important for state elections rather than depending on “nation issues and national leaders”.
The senior leader’s comments came at the first meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) as the party began deliberations on its poor performance in the Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections.
In his opening speech, Kharge said, “The atmosphere was in our favour during the elections. But just the atmosphere being in our favour is not a guarantee of victory. We will have to learn to convert the atmosphere into results,” and asked the reason for the party not being “able to take advantage of the atmosphere”.
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With polls in Delhi and Bihar due next year, the Congress president also emphasised early preparations.
“The recent election results also indicate that we should start our election preparations in the states at least one year in advance. Our teams should be present in the field before time. The first thing we should do is to check the voter lists so that our supporters’ votes remain in the list under all circumstances,” he said.
Pushing for changes in the party’s poll strategy, Kharge said, “We have to see on a daily basis what your political opponent is doing. We have to take timely decisions. Accountability has to be fixed.”
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“Sometimes we ourselves become our biggest enemy. We will talk negatively and depressingly about ourselves and say that we do not have any narrative, then I ask whose responsibility is it to create the narrative and convey it to the public?” he said.
On the recent elections, Kharge said, “These results are a message for us.”
“We may have lost the elections, but there is no doubt that unemployment, inflation, economic inequality are burning issues of this country. Caste census is also an important issue today. Issues like constitution, social justice and harmony are issues of the people,” he said, even as he underlined the importance of local issues for state elections.
“…this does not mean that we forget the important local issues in the electoral states. It is also important to understand the different issues of the states in detail in time and make a solid campaign strategy around it,” he added.
“How long will you fight the state elections with the help of national issues and national leaders?” the Congress president asked.
He also emphasised improving the ways of contesting elections in every situation.
“The times have changed. The ways of contesting elections have changed. We will have to make our micro-communication strategy better than the opponents. Ways to fight propaganda and misinformation will also have to be found. We will have to move forward by learning lessons from the previous results. The shortcomings have to be removed. Tough decisions will have to be taken with confidence,” Kharge said.
“Due to our repeated defeats, fascist forces are making their roots deeper. One by one they are also taking over the institutions of the State,” he said.