Congress Plenary to focus on Modi govt's failures, rebuilding party

Emboldened by the dent in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's aura of invincibility, Congress is keen to return to coalition politics but the eagerness may not reflect in the AICC Plenary starting Saturday to set the party's agenda for the next five years.

Top Congress leaders went into a huddle on Friday evening to finalise the agenda for the Plenary  the first after Rahul Gandhi became the party president that is expected to highlight the failures of the Modi government and show the way forward.

After Congress' humiliating loss in the 2014 ,Lok Sabha polls and subsequent electoral reversals, Gandhi is expected to share his vision on how to recoup from its weaknesses, add to its strengths and demonstrate that it can "hold hands and walk together" despite divergent views on issues.

UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has already initiated the process of getting leaders of Opposition parties on board to form an anti-BJP coalition for the Lok Sabha elections next year.

But a greater challenge awaits the Congress to rebuild itself across the country, particularly in big states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Odisha where it has been reduced to being a marginal player.

"The political resolution will provide a mirror to the current political situation and will focus on adding to the strengths of the Congress as well as recouping from the weaknesses," a senior party leader said.

The Subjects Committee meeting  comprising about 70 leaders, including chief ministers from Congress-ruled states, state unit chiefs, members of the working committee finalised the four resolutions that would be adopted at the Plenary over the next two days. The meeting was chaired by Rahul Gandhi and attended by his predecessor Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chief Ministers Siddaramaiah and Amarinder Singh, among others.

Three-part resolutions  

The resolutions are likely to be divided into three parts  failures of the NDA; comparison of the Modi government with the Congress-led UPA on key policies; and the broad outlook for the future.

"There was no talk of alliances at the meeting of the Subjects Committee," a senior leader told DH.

However, there will be a mention on coalition in a subtle manner without indicating any eagerness to stitch alliances, the leader said.

The Congress is also expected to make a pitch for linking agriculture to the government's flagship rural jobs scheme MGNREGA as a solution to address agrarian distress.