Kamal Nath meets Kharge to 'explain' Madhya Pradesh loss

Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath on Tuesday advised party workers not to get disheartened by the loss in the just-held assembly polls and instead pull their socks up and focus on preparations for the Lok Sabha elections which are just a few months away.

Seeking to boost the morale of party workers, Mr Nath recalled the Congress's crushing defeat in the post-Emergency 1977 Lok Sabha polls, when even stalwarts like Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi bit the dust, and how the party bounced back and recorded an impressive win three years later in 1980, bagging more than 300 seats in the Lower House of Parliament.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bagged 163 of the 230 assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh, while the Congress recorded victory in 66 segments, finishing a distant second in the November 17 polls results of which were declared on December 3.