Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday signaled her party’s battle-readiness by asking Congress leaders and workers to begin preparing for polls.
Backs nuke deal, signaling end to parleys with Left
NEW DELHI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday signaled her party’s battle-readiness by asking Congress leaders and workers to begin preparing for polls. This is the first time that Sonia has spoken out openly about elections ever since the stand-off with the Left parties on the nuclear issue.
Sonia Gandhi’s remarks came during her review meeting with her party general secretaries and senior functionaries. Though she did not indicate a timeframe, it is significant that she has asked the party to be prepared for an eventuality that appears inevitable with every passing day.
As part of its process of getting prepared for the general elections, the Congress chief also indicated that she plans to hold a ‘chintan shivir’ sometime in July, which will be used by the party to brainstorm and fine tune its electoral strategy. Sonia asked her general secretaries to tone up the election machinery in their respective states and to ensure that the UPA government’s achievements and flagship programmes were publicised in a big way.
She made special mention of the Rs60,000-crore farm loan waiver scheme. The Congress president made it a point to underline her support for the Prime Minister and the nuclear deal and directed the general secretaries that the benefits of the deal should be conveyed to the people.
A senior Congress functionary who attended the meeting felt that while Sonia had still not made up her mind about the timing of the elections, it is now clear that even she believes that negotiations with the Left parties had reached the end of the road.
The big dilemma before the Congress president is to reconcile the Prime Minister’s insistence that the deal go through at all costs and the feeling in the party that elections should be held at a time when inflation comes down.
Meanwhile, the CPI(M) politburo is meeting in New Delhi on Sunday, ostensibly to chart out its strategy in case the government decides to move ahead with the nuclear deal.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=spacer}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}