Kamal Nath calls review meeting of Congress candidates after poor show in MP assembly polls
Dec 04, 2023
Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], December 4 : Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Kamal Nath has called a review meeting of the Congress candidates for state assembly polls 2023 after the party's poor performance in the election.
According to the circular issued by the party, the meeting will be held at the state Congress office in Bhopal at 11 am on Tuesday.
Congress chief Nath will hold the meeting of the candidates and will review the defeat in the elections assembly-wise.
Madhya Pradesh went to poll for 230 assembly seats in a single phase on November 17 and its result was declared on Sunday along with three other states. The Congress party stood at the second position by winning just 66 seats while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) registered a comprehensive victory in the state by winning 163 seats.
During the last 2018 state assembly elections, the Congress party stood first by winning 114 seats while the BJP came second and managed to win 109 seats.
The Congress came to power, with veteran leader Kamal Nath taking oath as the chief minister but a political upheaval rocked the state in 2020 after then-Congressman Jyotiraditya Scindia, along with 22 loyalist MLAs, switched over to the saffron camp.
The Congress government fell after being reduced to a minority and the BJP formed the government in the state, with Shivraj Singh Chouhan returning as chief minister.
Earlier on Sunday, addressing a press conference during the final stage of counting, Nath said, "We accept the mandate of Madhya Pradesh's voters in this democratic contest. We will fulfil the role of the Opposition."
On the challenges that lie before the Congress as the principal Opposition party in the state, the former CM said, "The biggest challenge in front of us today is the future of the youth, unemployment and farm distress. Agriculture forms 70 per cent of our state's economy. We want to prioritise the strengths of the agriculture sector."
The Congress leader also congratulated the BJP for their victory in the state on the occasion.
"I congratulate the Bharatiya Janata Party and hope they will fulfil the responsibilities of the people who have given them this mandate," Nath said.
Notably, Madhya Pradesh has been a BJP stronghold for the last twenty years, barring the 15-month tenure of the Kamal Nath-led government when the Congress came to power in 2018.
