Invoking the success of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in 2004, party president Mallikarjun Kharge told Congress office-bearers on Thursday that similar efforts will have to be made for the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
He was speaking at a three-hour meeting held to discuss the preparations for the general election.
Referring to former Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s 25-year tenure at the helm, Mr. Kharge said, “In our Bangalore Congress session in March 2001, a resolution was passed to remove the NDA alliance from power. Work was done wholeheartedly in every State, and in 2004, under the leadership of Soniaji, UPA defeated NDA and we remained in power for 10 consecutive years. Then our workers from every village and city stood up. Today the time has come to work with the same dedication and hard work.”
The meeting was attended by the general secretaries, State in-charges, State presidents and Congress Legislature Party leaders from across the country. Mr. Rahul Gandhi too was present at the meeting.
The Congress president also accused the BJP of raising emotive issues to hide its failures during the 10 years in power at the Centre. Lauding Mr. Gandhi for undertaking the Kanyakumari-Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra, Mr. Kharge expressed confidence that his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Manipur to Maharashtra will bring issues of social justice to the centre of the national discussion.
“The BJP is pushing emotive issues to cover up the failures of its government in the last 10 years. They deliberately involve the Congress in every issue,” Mr. Kharge remarked.
United front
“We have to unite and give a befitting reply to the lies, deceit and wrongdoings of the BJP on grassroots issues in front of the people,” he added, asking the leaders to sink their differences, not raise internal issues in the media and to work as a team.
Noting that all the attacks of the BJP were directed at the Congress and the INDIA bloc, he said, “The NDA remains only in name while the INDIA bloc has major grassroots parties that have a strong cadre, base and ideology.”
He said that the Congress media and social media cells have already begun work on establishing an election-centric control room.
