Congress President Sonia Gandhi has called a meeting of party general secretaries and state incharges on Thursday, 24 June, to discuss issues related to organisation and take stock of preparations of the poll-bound states.
The agenda for the meeting as per a circular issued by KC Venugopal says that the meeting will take stock of Congress outreach programme and to discuss course of action on fuel hike and inflation.
The meeting is significant as calls of reforms have been growing from within the party to strengthen the organisation, particularly after the loss in state polls and recent exits from the party.
Sonia Gandhi wants to resolve issues in the state units as most of the them have been reporting infighting, including Punjab and Rajasthan.
The Congress is going to face crucial tests in Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, and Punjab, where polls will be held early next year.
The party is facing problems not only in states where it is in power – Rajasthan and Punjab – but also in those where it is in opposition – Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Delhi, among others.
The party is deliberating on changes in several state units and reshuffle in the AICC structure. The party has to also elect new presidents whose elections were postponed due to the pandemic.
After the exit of Jitin Prasada, Kapil Sibal, one of the vocal members of the G-23 who last year wrote a letter for sweeping reforms in the party, reiterated that the issue which had been highlighted in the letter remains and the party should look into it, if it does not want to face the consequences.
Another leader who is batting for “major surgery” within the party is Veerappa Moily, who said that party should build regional leadership and only promote committed people who are faithful to the ideology of the Congress.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)