NEW DELHI: The top Congress leadership on Monday met at the party’s headquarters in the national capital to chalk out the modalities and agenda of its “Chintan Shivir” (brainstorming session) to be held in Rajasthan’s Udaipur from May 13 to 15.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and several other senior leaders attended the meeting of the party’s top decision-making body – the Congress Working Committee (CWC) – at the AICC headquarters where they will also deliberate on the future strategy of the party.
In her opening remarks, Sonia said that while self-criticism is the need of the hour, it should not be done in a manner that self-confidence and morale is eroded.
“There are no magic wands. It is only selfless work, discipline and a sense of consistent collective purpose that will enable us to demonstrate our tenacity and resilience,” Sonia said.
She added that the party has been good to every one and now is the time to “repay that debt in full measure”.
The Congress president expressed hope that the Chintan Shivir will herald a “restructured organization” which will meet the many ideological, electoral and managerial challenges faced by the party.
The deliberations within the Congress comes at a time when the party is struggling to stay politically relevant after a string defeats in state as well as national polls.
The Congress had announced last month that it would hold the three-day brainstorming session in which top party leaders from across the country would discuss the Congress’ future election strategy and challenges ahead.
The leaders will also discuss the issues before the Congress and dwell on all internal matters confronting it and come up with solutions to help strengthen it at the grassroots level.
About 400 party leaders, including members of the CWC, MPs, state in-charges, general secretaries and state presidents, are expected to attend the session in Udaipur.
The Congress had earlier also announced that an empowered group would be constituted to address the political challenges ahead and prepare the strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, days after deliberating on a revival plan presented by poll strategist Prashant Kishor.
Kishor had subsequently declined the Congress’s offer to join the party and evolve its poll strategy and said more than him, the party needs leadership and collective will to fix deep-rooted structural problems by carrying out transformational reforms.
The party has constituted six coordination panels for drafting papers and leading discussions on the issues of political and organisational importance, social justice, economy, farmers and youth during the three-day brainstorming conclave.
(With inputs from PTI)
