New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday asked Gujarat in charge, Raghu Sharma, to convene a meeting of the newly-elected MLAs on December 21 against the backdrop of intense lobbying for the post despite the poll debacle. “A meeting of the MLAs has been called on Dec 21,” AICC secretary in charge of Gujarat BM Sandeep Kumar told ETV Bharat.
The Congress, which had won 77 out of 182 seats in the 2017 polls, was reduced to just 17 -- its worst-ever electoral performance in the western state --in the recently concluded assembly elections. But that has not deterred MLAs like Shailesh Parmar, CJ Chavda, and a few others from lobbying for the post of Congress Legislative Party leader, said party insiders.
However, it still remains uncertain whether or not the grand old party will get the Leader of the Opposition post officially as the Gujarat assembly has followed a norm for decades as per which the opposition party with 10 percent seats (18) would get the LoP post. This time, Congress is one seat short of that number and so, the final call on the matter will be taken by the House Speaker.
According to sources, the AICC in charge has also convened a meeting of district unit heads on Dec 21 where he will review the poll debacle with them. Party veterans meanwhile acknowledged the poll results are disappointing but also noted that there was no need to lose heart.
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“The results are disappointing but we need not lose hope. The AAP dented our support base by gaining a 13 percent vote share. But we still have around 27 percent vote share. If we strengthen the organization, it is possible to regain lost vote share over the next few years,” senior leader Dipak Babaria, who drafted the poll manifesto, told ETV Bharat.
“We will continue to challenge the BJP in the state. Our workers are still hopeful and prepared to work towards that tough goal,” he said. According to party insiders, Kharge is discussing ways to revamp the state unit but needs to settle the power tussle between the lawmakers first and assure the local leaders.
Raghu Sharma will discuss plans for the two-month-long “Hath se hath jodo” campaign that the Congress will launch soon after Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra ends in January. Sharma had submitted his resignation to Kharge on December 8, the result day. But he has been asked to hold on for now. Apart from the CLP leader, Gujarat may also get a new state unit chief, said party insiders.
A review of the elaborate set of observers and the booth-level teams would also be done to understand where things go wrong as the pre-poll reports were very encouraging.“The local teams worked hard and regular feedback on their work showed satisfactory performance. Yet, some things went horribly wrong. We need to understand them and take corrective measures,” said a senior AICC functionary involved in the post-poll review.
