New Delhi:Congress working Committee (CWC) met on Friday in the national capital under party president Mallikarjun Kharge. In his address at the AICC headquarters here, Kharge claimed he believes that the EVMs have made the electoral process “suspect” and stressed that it is the constitutional responsibility of the Election Commission of India to ensure free and fair elections in the country.
Kharge also hit out at internal bickering in the party and asserted that the lack of unity and statements against own party leaders harm the party a lot. “Unless we fight elections unitedly and stop making statements against each other, how will we be able to defeat our opponents politically?” the Congress president asked.
He also called for removing shortcomings in the party by learning lessons from the election results and said the party would have to evolve a strategy to effectively counter the “propaganda and misinformation” by its rivals.
“Therefore, it is important that we strictly follow discipline. We have to remain united under all circumstances. The party also has the weapon of disciplining. But we do not want to put our workers in any bondage. Therefore, everyone needs to think that a victory of the Congress party is our victory and a defeat is our defeat. Our strength lies in the strength of the party," the Congress president said while asking party workers not to get dejected.
Speaking to the media, party general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said the party discussed the political situation in the country for four-and-half hours and adopted the resolution. He said the CWC has decided to constitute internal committees to look into electoral performance and organisational matters. About the Assembly polls results in Maharashtra, Venugopal said the electoral outcome in the state was “beyond normal understanding and it appears to be a clear case of targeted manipulation”.
Meanwhile, hitting out at the ECI for being partisan, the CWC in its resolution said, “The CWC believes the integrity of the entire electoral process is being severely compromised. Free and fair elections are a Constitutional mandate that is being called into serious question by the partisan functioning of the ECI.” The party will start a national movement on the targeted electoral malpractices.
Insiders claim that general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra categorically wanted the party to strongly pitch for ballot papers. While some dithered and wanted the ambit to cover the entire electoral process, the party will soon be reaching out to I.N.D.I.A. bloc allies on the issue. Speaking to reporters general secretary communications Jairam Ramesh said, “We have approached the ECI several times but to no avail. It is not limited to EVMs alone but the whole process including voter list manipulation”.
The CWC, which met amid the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament, said the session has been a washout so far because of the Narendra Modi government’s “stubborn refusal” to have an immediate discussion on three pressing national issues -- the recent revelations regarding corruption by a business group, and the violence in Manipur and Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal”. Asked why the CWC resolution does not name the business group, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, “The answer is the Adani group”.
The party will celebrate the centenary of Mahatama Gandhi taking over as Congress President in 1924 in Belgaum. The party will have an extended CWC and a rally in Belgaum on 26 and 17 December this year.
