From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has fully booked two holiday resorts off Udaipur from May 13 to 16 for a “Chintan Shivir” the Congress is to organise for introspection on how to galvanise the party for ousting the Bharatiya Janata Party from the Centre in the 2024 general elections.
He held consultations here on Wednesday with Congress President Sonia Gandhi on the arrangements to be made for the session. He has booked the accommodations for four days, though the session will be for only three days and attended by nearly 400 party leaders.
Udaipur city has 36 holiday resorts, prominent among them being Taj Lake Place, Leela Palace, Oberoi Udaivilas and Ringside Estate. Journalists covering the event will be accommodated separately. Rahul Gandhi has gone abroad, but he will be back to join the “Chintan Shivir,” the Congress sources said. This brainstorming exercise will be the first in nine years after one held in Jaipur in 2013.
Poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s plan for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be the main focus of the “Chintan Shivir” that was finalised by the Congress Working Committee (CWC) last month after a serious setback in the Assembly elections in five states. The CWC decided to brainstorm to find out the reasons for the Congress defeat in elections after elections.
After a presentation to the party seniors in which all three Gandhis–Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka–were present, Prashant Kishor had drawn up a roadmap on the Congress contesting only 370 to 400 Lok Sabha seats and leave the rest in the 543-member Lok Sabha for other likeminded parties in the 2024 elections. His presentation to explain that the Congress should concentrate only on the seats on which it has strong prospects to win.
A 7-member group, constituted by Sonia Gandhi, has been holding daily sessions at 10 Janpath since Monday to analyse Prashant’s plan and give own inputs and call in Prashant to seek his clarifications. The group comprises P Chidambaram, Ambika Soni, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Digvijaya Singh, Jairam Ramesh, Mukul Wasnik, K C Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala.
The group is to present a plan of action for consideration in the “Manthan Shivir,” but only after it is cleared by the CWC in a meeting later towards this month end. It has been tasked to prepare a report, incorporating Prashant’s plan, on restructuring the party both at the national and the state levels.
Sources in the group said they had a consensus that Prashant Kishor should join the Congress officially to be part of all future decisions as that would ensure he does not become a poll consultant of any other party. In the past, he had become the vice-president of the Janata Dal headed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, but he assured the Congress seniors in his presentation on Saturday that he has broken away all ties with the Janata Dal. The party has, however, left it up to Sonia Gandhi to decide on Prashant’s induction in the party and in what position.
