Cong discusses LS poll preparedness in Gujarat, Kharge says will move ahead with positive agenda

PTI, Dec 16, 2023, 6:22 PM IST

The top leadership of the Congress Saturday discussed the party’s preparations in Gujarat for next year’s Lok Sabha elections, with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge saying they will move forward with a positive agenda to strengthen the organisation.

Kharge chaired a meeting of Gujarat Congress leaders at the AICC headquarters here. Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders of the party were also present.

Discussions were held on challenges the party faces in Gujarat and ways to highlight the BJP’s ”misgovernance” before the people.

This was part of a series of meetings organised by the party to strengthen the organisation in every state and prepare itself for the general elections next year.

”Due to the continuous misgovernance of the BJP government in Gujarat, the issues remain the same – unemployment, inflation, economic inequality, atrocities against Dalits and tribals, fraud and immense corruption,” Kharge said in Hindi on ‘X’ after the meeting.

”Today, we discussed the preparations of the Gujarat Congress in the context of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

”The Congress party, with a positive agenda, will strengthen the organisation for the fresh challenges ahead,” the Congress chief added.

Among other leaders at the meeting were AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, Mukul Wasnik and Gujarat Congress president Shaktisinh Gohil.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Gohil said, ”I thank the Congress high command for holding detailed discussions. We will move forward with a positive agenda as corruption is going on in Gujarat under the BJP rule and the state is being ‘looted’. and people are very upset.” Senior party leader Wasnik said it was a very constructive discussion. ”We are hopeful that in Gujarat, we would succeed in implementing the programmes of the organisation in the state to strengthen the Congress,” he said.

”We held a 2.5-hour-long discussion on our Lok Sabha elections and how we would take on the challenges before us together,” Wasnik added.

Gujarat is the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP has been in power there for several years now.