Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has asked both the winning and defeated election candidates of the party to stay in their constituencies and continue working closely with the people, rather than being in the capital city.
In a pep talk, while addressing these candidates at Bengaluru’s Bharat Jodo Auditorium, Gandhi congratulated the MPs who won and told those who were defeated not to lose heart, continue working for the people with dedication, and not neglect their constituencies.
The Congress won nine out of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, up from just one in 2019.
The Bharatiya Janata Party bagged 17 seats this time and its alliance partner Janata Dal (Secular) won 2.
Several leaders that News18 spoke to said Rahul Gandhi was very encouraging during the meeting. “He energised us again and wanted us to do better at every given opportunity,” said a leader.
Gandhi, in his 15-minute address, sent out a strong message that it was important to safeguard the Constitution of India and work with the people who have supported the Congress in its endeavour to do so.
“He said that in Karnataka the Congress was expecting more seats, at least 15 seats, but we will accept the decision of the people and continue working with sincerity. He said that the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have taught the BJP a lesson and people have once again understood the values that the Congress brings,” said another leader who did not wish to be named.
Yet another leader told News18 that Gandhi spoke extensively on how the Dalits have voted in favour of the party and it is important that each and every caste and community is served and taken care of.
“He told us to continue our fight to win back democracy, how we have been successful in some places and not so successful in others, but the work must go on. We must stay strong and fight for the country; they are our people, and we must continue in the same spirit in wins and losses,” said a leader who wished to remain anonymous.
Gandhi’s meeting, though initially aimed at trying to analyse the Congress’s shortfall in reaching the 15-seat mark, restricted itself to statements that pepped up the morale of those present, a leader said.
Gandhi also had a word of caution about not trusting everything that the media says or does and keeping their eyes and ears close to the ground.
He said this election has shown that people are no longer enamoured by Narendra Modi’s personality cult, and it has been destroyed, seeing how voters voted for the Congress.
“The Congress fought this election with its hands tied behind its back, even with the media taking sides. Yet the results have been very good, and it has shown how the people are fed up with Modi and his false promises — was what he told us,” said another Congress leader present in the meeting.
Gandhi also spoke of how the National Democratic Alliance may have won 293 seats, but the coalition partners are already fighting internally.
“Nitish is asking for a caste census, Chandrababu Naidu is against it, then there is the fight for portfolios; they are already on sticky ground. Whatever their problems, we are going to stick to our Congress ideologies and work for the people of the country,” said a Congress leader.
Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and party state unit president DK Shivakumar also attended the meeting and expressed their intent to continue working towards the Congress’s goals.
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