Congress to hold chintan shivir to find a way forward

NEW DELHI: Congress will soon hold a brainstorming session following its massive defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.

The 'chintan shivir' will be an attempt to forge a cogent agenda for political revival. The party is demoralized in the wake of its defeat and party managers feel the leadership has to send out a message to workers nationally.

The session is likely to be held around June-end or in the first week of July and most possibly in the Capital itself.

An indication of such a move was given by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi at the Congress Working Committee meeting held immediately after the defeat last month.

The quick action on the proposal aims to show a sense of urgency over the state of the party. It also gains importance in view of assembly elections to four states towards the end of the year, with Congress on notice on most of these turfs. The party was routed in Haryana, Maharashtra, Delhi and Jharkhand in the Lok Sabha polls.

Congress leaders from across the country and central leaders will discuss issues of political importance and the agenda with which the party should move ahead to win back the support of people. Virtually every section, poor or rich or middle-class, Dalits or upper castes, deserted the party in the elections, giving it an unprecedented hammering.

Such a meeting would also be used to garner support for the leadership of Rahul Gandhi who is facing serious criticism from within over his plans and strategy in the recent elections. Many leaders in states and the Centre have lashed out at him, giving a sense of no-confidence in his position as heir-apparent.

Meanwhile, the Congress chief organised a lunch for UPA MPs in Parliament on Tuesday in a bid to strengthen the opposition alliance. It was attended by all UPA allies -- NCP, National Conference, RLD, IUML - and RJD chief Lalu Prasad and JMM chief Shibu Soren.