"Maximum participation of youth...": New Cong state chief meets Rahul, lays out revival plan for MP
Dec 17, 2023
New Delhi [India], December 17 : Assigned the task of lifting the morale of the cadre after the party's rout in the Assembly elections last month, the new president of Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee, Jitu Patwari, called on party MP Rahul Gandhi in the national capital on Sunday.
Patwari came in as the new Congress state chief after former chief minister and senior leader Kamal Nath was removed from the post following the crushing defeat in the Assembly elections.
During his meeting with Rahul, Patwari was accompanied by newly appointed Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Umang Singhar and the deputy leader of the Opposition, Hemant Katare.
The party's state leadership had been asking for a change in light of the poll drubbing in the heartland state.
Patwari was officially named as the new state chief on December 16, Saturday, with the party eyeing a fresh start in the state after the poll rout.
Defying many pollsters, who predicted a Congress return in Madhya Pradesh, the BJP won a landslide mandate in the heartland state despite battling close to 20 years of anti-incumbency.
Speaking to ANI after meeting Rahul, Patwari vowed to strengthen the party by involving more youth.
"Maximum participation of youth, the aim of winning maximum seats in the state in next year's Lok Sabha elections and contesting the elections under collective leadership without factionalism were the main issues discussed in the meeting," Patwari told ANI.
"40 per cent voted in favour of the Congress while 48 per cent favoured the BJP. We will go among the people and try to reach out to as many as possible in the state ahead of the Lok Sabha elections," he added.
On the chances of stalwarts Digvijay Singh and Kamal Nath of contesting the next Lok Sabha elections, Patwari said the elections will be held under a collective leadership and the high command will decide who would contest and who wouldn't.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Umang Singhar and Hemant Katare said the party will focus on the maximum participation of youth in the Lok Sabha elections.
"Our defeat in the Assembly elections will also be reviewed in the CWC meeting on December 19," Singhar told ANI.
The BJP won a resounding mandate in the state, bagging 163 seats while the Congress finished a distant second at 66 seats.
Madhya Pradesh polled for 230 assembly seats in a single phase on November 17 and the results, along with those of three other states -- Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Telangana -- were declared on December 3.
The state has been a saffron stronghold for the last twenty years, barring a 15-month tenure of the Kamal Nath-led government after the Congress came to power in the 2018 polls.
In the last assembly elections, the Congress emerged as the largest single party with 114 seats while the BJP trailed closely with 109 seats.
The Congress eventually came to power, with Kamal Nath taking oath as the chief minister.
However, that was before 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.
