Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said his party has learnt valuable lessons from the recent assembly polls and urged party workers to focus on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections now.

Addressing party leaders at a crucial meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) at the AICC headquarters here, Kharge said the Congress is committed to not repeating the same mistakes.

He also said several Congress leaders want Rahul Gandhi to undertake another Bharat Jodo Yatra from east to west but the final decision is up to him and the CWC, the Congress' highest decision-making body.

This is the first CWC meeting after the Congress' recent poll debacle.

The assembly elections were held in five states -- Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram. The Congress won only in Telangana.

While the BJP swept Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the Zoram People's Movement won in Mizoram.

Noting that the outcomes of the elections in the five states, barring Telangana, were "disappointing", Kharge said the Congress has conducted a preliminary analysis of the results and identified the reasons behind its performance.

"Despite the results, there are some positive indicators, such as the vote share in these states, that give us definite hope that given due attention, we can certainly turn things around.

"We have learnt valuable lessons from the mistakes we have made and are committed to not repeating them," he said.

Kharge said the fourth meeting of the opposition INDIA bloc was held on December 19 and it was unanimously decided that the seat-sharing talks must start immediately.

In this regard, he said, the Congress has constituted a five-member panel which will engage with various parties in different states.

"The Lok Sabha elections are not too far, we don't have much time left. I would urge everyone to concentrate on actionable points and the necessary steps that can be taken for the upcoming general elections," the Congress chief said at the meeting.

On the suspension of opposition MPs from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha over the last eight days, Kharge alleged it was part of a "conspiracy" to convert the Parliament into a platform for the ruling party.

The entire country is watching how the BJP is strangulating democracy by arbitrarily passing key bills without discussion or debate, he said.

Kharge also accused the BJP of trying to take over institutions like the Election Commission and said the government has put the Constitution, the Parliament and democracy in danger.

"The biggest challenge is that the people holding constitutional positions, who are responsible for providing protection to the opposition MPs, are themselves becoming a part of party politics and doing politics using caste, region and occupation as their shield.

"They have failed to fulfil their obligations under the Constitution. The whole country is watching it," he said, in an apparent attack on the Lok Sabha speaker and the Rajya Sabha chairman over the suspension of opposition members.

After two men jumped in the Lok Sabha chamber on December 13 and released smoke from canisters, the opposition has been disrupting parliamentary proceedings demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah on the security breach.

More than 140 MPs have been suspended from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha since December 14.

Earlier on Thursday, opposition MPs marched to Vijay Chowk from the Parliament to protest the suspension of MPs.

A fresh political row erupted on Tuesday after Trinamool Congress leader Kalyan Banerjee derisively mimicked Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar during the opposition's protest on the stairs of the Parliament against the MPs' suspension, drawing strong condemnation from the ruling BJP. Rahul Gandhi was seen making a video of Banerjee's performance.

Dhankhar had given vent to his anguish in the Rajya Sabha, saying he was personally hurt as his farmer and Jat backgrounds were targeted.

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