New Delhi, August 12
Congress president Sonia Gandhi is to turn her attention to pending organisational matters once the current Parliament session concludes this month-end.
Two key events, the Chief Minister’s conclave and the AICC plenary session, which have long been delayed for one reason or the other, are being planned in the coming months.
There has been muted
criticism about this unusual delay as Congress cadres feel that Mrs Gandhi is giving greater priority to UPA affairs instead of focussing on party matters.
The conference of Congress Chief Ministers is expected to be organised in early-September, most likely in Dehra Dun and the plenary session is being slated for early-October. Although several states have been clamouring to host the plenary, Congress sources indicated, the honours could go to Andhra Pradesh.
The CMs’ conclave, which was held diligently every six months when the Congress was not in power, has not been called for over two years now. These meetings are meant to monitor the implementation of the party’s election manifesto promises in the respective states and assess the performance of the CMs. Since the Congress was in the Opposition then, it also became an occasion to showcase the party’s growing tribe of Chief Ministers and establish the Congress claim on “good governance.”
The coming CMs’ meet will be the first since the Congress came to power over a year ago. Besides assessing how the Chief Ministers are faring on keeping their election pledges, the meeting will also focus on greater
Centre-state coordination. The effort will be to ensure that the two speak the same language on key policy matters.
After the CMs’ conclave, the next major event is the AICC plenary session, which is held every three years after the party President’s election. The meet lays down the direction for the party cadres and elects members to its highest decision-making body, the Congress Working Committee (CWC). The coming plenary is also significant as Congress heir-apparent Rahul Gandhi will be participating in the deliberations as an AICC delegate. This is being seen as a precursor to his appointment as an AICC General Secretary.
