Congress top brass tells election managers to work on political strategy ahead of assembly polls

New Delhi: Congress top leadership on Monday asked its election managers in poll-bound states – Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra and Jharkhand – to build a political strategy, including building coalitions, to capitalise on the I.N.D.I.A bloc’s gains in the Lok Sabha elections.

At a meeting of General Secretaries, in-charges and Screening Committee members here, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi asked the leaders to explore and adopt the best strategy, which could also include settling for coalitions, to defeat BJP.

Sources said Rahul told the meeting that they should not forget “loyal” Congress workers while choosing candidates. He also said they should keep in mind social combinations and give opportunities to those from SC, ST and OBC communities.

Rahul is learnt to have told the leaders that they should ensure that the momentum I.N.D.I.A bloc had gathered after the Lok Sabha should be maintained in the Assembly elections.

Kharge also insisted social combinations as well as “winnability” should be kept in mind while choosing the candidates, sources said.

After the meeting, Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal told reporters that they discussed the general guidelines for candidate selection while emphasising that the “coalition and Congress” is going to win all the four states.

On Jammu and Kashmir, he said the Congress is “very much for an alliance. Our motive is to defeat the BJP. We should have a BJP free government. That is our preference and we are open. I hope everybody will think in that way.”

Congress is already in an alliance in Maharashtra and Jharkhand while the I.N.D.I.A bloc is not in shape in Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana. In Jammu and Kashmir, I.N.D.I.A bloc constituents fought against each other while in Haryana AAP and Congress fought in alliance.

Sources said Congress leadership has asked the state leadership to provide clarity on its position on alliance with AAP. The state leadership dominated by Bhupinder Hooda-faction is against a tie-up.

The meeting also saw “a sort review of the preparations” so far, sources said adding the central leadership has been told that a draft of the manifesto is ready.

Sources said the Screening Committee for Jammu and Kashmir would be meeting in the next couple of days and the Central Election Committee would meet around August 24 to choose candidates at least for the first phase of elections on September 18. A similar exercise for Haryana will also start soon.