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Just before the event began, the Congress also released a memorandum to the Election Commission, asking for a personal meeting to share ‘evidence’ that EVMs were indeed compromised
The Congress understands the need to be seen as battle-ready and equipped. (File photo: News18)
In the first Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting held after this month’s Maharashtra poll debacle, there was some tough and candid talk from the party president. In his opening speech, Mallikarjun Kharge rebuked party leaders, saying their infighting cost the Congress a victory. “The biggest weakness is that we are not united, and public comments against each other hurt us. We have ways to ensure discipline, but we don’t want to be harsh with our party colleagues,” he said.
This is the usual story for the party. In fact, sources say, Rahul Gandhi too echoed Kharge’s thoughts. Reiterating what he said before, Rahul stated, “What’s more important for some is position than the party, and this is what hurts us always.”
For example, the Haryana polls were lost because of many factors, but the open fight between the Hoodas and Kumari Selja was seen as one of the main reasons for the setback. Despite the Gandhis stepping in to placate, the bitterness was too deep for any patch-up.
In Maharashtra, Congress leaders were openly fighting for the chief minister’s post, which made the Maha Vikas Aghadi look weak.
But the most key decision was on electoral and EVM issues. Just before the CWC event began, the Congress released a memorandum to the Election Commission, asking for a personal meeting to share “evidence” that EVMs were indeed compromised.
The Congress president referred to this in his speech, saying this defeated the purpose of a fight against the “fascist BJP”. The Congress has planned a yatra to “awaken” people about the need to return to the earlier system of ballot papers.
However, top sources say that some leaders present said that just blaming the EVMs was not the correct assessment. The failure to understand the impact of the Ladki Bahin Yojana and the RSS and BJP’s groundwork were also key causes.
The Congress understands the need to be seen as battle-ready and equipped. Unfortunately, many issues raised by the party, like the caste census and a threat to the Constitution, have failed to bring in votes.
The party has yet to read the writing on the wall: that it needs to be battle-ready. Despite Kharge saying the party organisation needs to be strengthened, not much happens on the ground. Multiple egos and confused strategies repeatedly led the grand old party to lose. The next big challenge will be the 2025 Delhi elections. But here again, the Congress looks confused.
