"Crack The Whip": Rahul Gandhi's Request To M Kharge After Maharashtra Rout

Congress leaders have vowed to course-correct under the leadership of Mallikarjun Kharge, with Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi urging the party chief to "crack the whip."

Back-to-back electoral defeats in Maharashtra and Haryana have prompted calls for introspection and decisive action in the Congress party. Party leaders have vowed to course-correct under the leadership of Mallikarjun Kharge, with Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi urging the party chief to "crack the whip."

Addressing the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Friday, Mr Kharge issued a warning against infighting and anti-party remarks, stating that "tough decisions" were inevitable to fix accountability and identify the party's shortcomings after poll debacles.

Winning only 16 out of 288 assembly seats, Congress suffered one of its worst electoral setbacks in the state. Its allies in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)- the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction)  -fared no better, securing just 10 and 20 seats, respectively.