Published Jan 12, 2024 | 1:11 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 12, 2024 | 1:15 PM
AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge. (X)
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge held two separate meetings with party coordinators from several states and Union Territories — including all those in the South — to review preparations for the Lok Sabha elections and exhorted them to reach out to the maximum number of people in their respective constituencies.
The meetings at the party headquarters in Delhi were attended by its parliamentary coordinators.
The first meeting was with Lok Sabha coordinators from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala, Lakshadweep and Puducherry, and the second one was with leaders from Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
“We conducted a preparatory review for the forthcoming general elections with AICC-appointed Lok Sabha coordinators in two different meetings,” Kharge said after the meetings on on Thursday, 11 January.
“My only advice to the coordinators is to make sure that the party reaches out to a maximum number of people in their respective parliamentary constituencies,” the Congress chief said in a post on X while sharing pictures of the two meetings.
We conducted preparatory review for the forthcoming general elections with AICC appointed Lok Sabha coordinators in two different meetings.
The first meeting comprised of coordinators from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala, Lakshadweep, and Puducherry.
While the second… pic.twitter.com/GywkXfHYcb
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) January 11, 2024
From Karnataka, Ministers KN Rajanna, KJ George, BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan, G Parameshwara, Laxmi Hebbalkar, NS Boseraju, and RB Timmapur are among those who flew to the national capital on Thursday morning, Congress sources said.
“The information we have is that 29 ministers have been summoned to Delhi to discuss strategies,” a senior Congress leader told PTI.
According to him, the key focus this time is to identify the right candidates and find ways to counter the Ram temple issue so that it does not adversely affect the party’s poll prospects in Karnataka.
“The ministers will be asked to publicise the five guarantees (pre-poll promises of the party) and various other welfare schemes of the state government. Our key strength in the Lok Sabha election is our five guarantees, which no other state has implemented,” the Congress leader claimed.
While the Ram temple issue may come up for discussion, the Congress leader said that the party is not unduly worried about it.
The Congress put up a dismal show in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka, where it won just one of the total 28 seats.
The Congress leadership is holding hectic deliberations with party leaders from every state ahead of the elections, due in April-May.
The Congress is a part of the INDIA bloc of 28 Opposition parties who would put up a united fight against the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections and seek to defeat it.
Amid the seat-sharing talks, AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “Kharge is in touch with leaders of all parties of the INDIA bloc on how best to give structure to ensure closer coordination in the alliance.”
The Congress held preliminary talks for seat-sharing in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections with the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Nationalist Congress Party for Maharashtra and with the Samajwadi Party for Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday.
Sources said that seat-sharing talks will again be held among top leaders of the three parties including Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray, who are likely to meet Sonia Gandhi around 14 and 15 January.
Talks were also held separately between Congress and Samajwadi Party leaders for Uttar Pradesh, where Ram Gopal Yadav and Javed Ali were present and the next round of dialogue with AAP and the SP would be held on 12 January.
(With PTI inputs)
