New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday held its extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting here, where a resolution requesting party leader Rahul Gandhi to take up the position of the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, was unanimously passed. Addressing a press conference after the CWC meeting that lasted for more than three hours, party General Secretary KC Venugopal said, "Two resolutions were passed in the meeting. In the second resolution that was passed unanimously, all leaders requested Rahul Gandhi to take up the Leader of the Opposition position in the Lok Sabha.The former Congress President said that he would think about it".
The first resolution said ''This meeting of the CWC congratulates the people of the country for voting so powerfully to preserve democracy, protect the republic's Constitution and enhance social and economic justice. It also acknowledged four stalwarts--Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, CPP Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former Party President Rahul Gandhi and party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra--who spearheaded the party's well-designed and well-executed campaign.''
He said, "During the elections, the party raised several important issues such as unemployment, inflation, women's issues and social justice. These issues now need to be addressed more effectively inside Parliament and Rahul ji is the best person to lead this campaign in the Parliament".
Venugopal also attacked the government alleging that the BJP made several attempts to finish the grand old party."There were several attempts to finish the Congress. But we stood strong. The BJP has only one agenda i.e to divide the people. However, the Congress party and the INDI alliance have stood firmly with our narrative and guarantees," the senior leader said.
He said the party also extensively discussed on issues like campaigning and guarantee schemes.
The Congress general secretary said that while the party performed exceptionally well in the Lok Sabha election, but there were some states when the performance were not upto the mark.
Adding that the Congress president has directed to form a committee that would look into the cause of the poor performace of the party.
Stating that this was a new form of Parliamentary elections where there were no level playing fields, Venugopal said, "Despite our accounts being frozen and our leaders being blackmailed, we performed wonderfully in the Lok Sabha election. Our Journey was challenging, but our Congress workers, from top to bottom, fought like warriors to protect the democracy and Constitution of our country".
Meanwhile, senior party leader Jairam Ramesh said that this election was a personal, political and moral defeat for Narendra Modi. This was a victory for the people of the country and victory for keeping the Constitution safe.
Replying to a question on whether the Congress party would attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony on Sunday, Ramesh said that international leaders have been invited but the Congress has not yet received any invitation. The party 'if gets an invite' will discuss with its alliance partners and take a call.(UNI)
