Extracts of the Opening remarks of Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge at the Congress Working Committee meeting on December 21, 2023, in New Delhi Translated from Hindi

I heartily welcome all of you to the Congress Working Committee meeting. In our last working committee meeting, we had discussed about the state assembly elections. There was a good environment, we did not get results as expected in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Mizoram. Steps are being taken to review the states. We are confident that our hard work will bear fruit in the future. On this occasion, I would like to congratulate all my colleagues from Telangana who have worked hard. It is our responsibility to live up to the mandate of the people of Telangana which we will fulfil.

Friends, the elections for the 18th Lok Sabha are before us. In this regard, the fourth meeting of India Alliance was held in Delhi on December 19, 2023. We have moved forward in many directions. We have to win as many seats as possible by coordinating with like-minded colleagues. We have constituted a five-member National Alliance Committee, which will decide the outlines of the alliance with other parties. In view of the preparations for the Lok Sabha, a review meeting has been held with about 24 states. We will also appoint coordinators on Lok Sabha seats soon. We are going to hold a huge rally in Nagpur on December 28, on the 138th foundation day of Congress. A new message will go out from there, the rally will be historic, I wish so.

Along with this, to further strengthen their fight, the seats have once again knocked on the doors of the public to seek their contribution and have started the programme of public cooperation ‘Desh ke liye Daan’ (‘Donation for the Country’). You are all requested to make the organization and people aware about this campaign. Our repute of being the largest democracy in the world is in crisis. The entire country is seeing that BJP is stifling democracy by arbitrarily passing important bills without discussion and debate. There is a conspiracy going on to convert Parliament into a platform for the ruling party.

The manner in which 143 MPs of our India alliance have been suspended in both the Houses so far in the current Parliament is unfortunate. The Modi government is working against the dignity of Parliament by getting all the important bills passed in the absence of the opposition. By trying to take over institutions like the Election Commission, the government has also put the Constitution, Parliament and democracy in danger. The opposition gave full cooperation in the Parliament session. But after the incident in Parliament on December 13, 2023, the opposition MPs were demanding a statement from the Home Minister and a comprehensive discussion on this issue in both the Houses, which the government made a question of prestige. The biggest challenge is that the people holding constitutional posts, who are responsible for providing protection to the opposition MPs, are themselves becoming a part of party politics and doing politics using caste, region and occupation as their shield.

They have failed to fulfil their obligations under the Constitution. The whole country is being witness to it. For 138 years, we have had a history of renunciation, sacrifice and restraint. Patriotism is in our blood and DNA. Even during the British rule, our ancestors did not learn to fear or bow down.

The government side has been trying to mislead the public for the last 10 years by defaming great heroes and distorting history for their own interests. We will have to answer them with the help of truth in a moderate and dignified language. We are doing the same work even in the House. Our ideology does not allow us to lie like them, or to do the same thing that this government is doing today. Friends, the lifespan of ego, sin and lies is very short, but truth is immortal. We have to defeat the undemocratic forces with great patience and restraint, following the path of truth that our heroes have taught us.

I have full confidence that we will achieve victory in the struggle to provide justice to the people. We have to always pay attention to those fundamental issues which this government is making every possible effort to keep aside. The wealth of the country is being handed over to a few businessmen. Unemployment, inflation and questions of common people have to be put forward. We should not forget those questions which will affect politics in future. Caste census and women’s reservation will be important issues. We want that women’s reservation should be implemented immediately and OBC women should be brought under the ambit of reservation. We will have to tell the public about the difference between the ground reality of two more promises of Modi Sahib. Their hate campaign and politics of polarization also have to be exposed.

Today we will have to ponder over many such questions and make some concrete strategies for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. I want to put one more important thing before the working committee. For the last several months, all the leaders and workers of the Party have been continuously putting forward a demand before me that Rahul Gandhi should be requested to tour India from East to West. I put this before Rahul ji in the working committee and leave the decision to all of you.

I would like to say a few things in English too- We have convened this Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting to address our preparedness for the imminent Lok Sabha Elections. The outcomes of the recent Assembly elections in five states, barring Telangana, were disappointing. Along with Rahul Ji, I engaged with leaders from each of the four states to conduct a preliminary analysis of the election results and identified the reasons for our disappointing performance. Despite the results, there are some positive indicators, such as the vote share in these states, that gives us a definite hope that given due attention, we can certainly turn things around.

We have learnt valuable lessons from the mistakes we have made and are committed to avoiding a recurrence of them. The fourth meeting of the INDIA Alliance was held on December 19, 2023. In the meeting, it was unanimously agreed that the seat-sharing process must start immediately. To facilitate this, a 5-member National Alliance Committee has been established to engage with various parties in different states, as needed. The issue of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) manipulation was also discussed in the meeting. A resolution was passed in this regard. Lok Sabha Elections are not too far, we don’t have much time left. I would urge everyone to concentrate on actionable points and the necessary steps that can be taken for the upcoming General elections. Thank you!