Rahul Gandhi has occupied the centre-stage at the Congress 'Chintan Shivir' in Jaipur, as a majority of the Congressmen have demanded that he should be named as the Prime Ministerial candidate.
A sulking former external affairs minister S M Krishna, who was recently made a permanent invitee of the Congress working committee, will skip the party's Chintan Shivir in Jaipur this week.
'It was disappointing on two counts. One is on the leadership issue and second is how the Congress must win elections.'
With the victory over FDI in multi-brand retail in Parliament, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance is now gearing up for the party's all important 'Chintan Shivir' (brainstorming camp) next month.
Renu Mittal gives us glimpses from the opening ceremony of Congress' Chintan Shivir in Jaipur which saw party general secretary Rahul Gandhi taking part in group deliberations`
The much-talked about 'chintan shivir' of Congress, to introspect serious issues including corruption, is likely to take place next month in Rajasthan.
Faced with poll debacle in four states, the Congress is expected to hold a 'chintan shivir'.
Gandhi said around 400 Congress members will be attending the Chintan Shivir in Udaipur from May 13 to 15 and stressed on the message of every leader holding one party post.
After the Chintan Shivir and the All India Congress Committee meeting is over in Jaipur on January 20, it is expected that there would be a reshuffle of the AICC, state Pradesh Congress Committees. Some chief ministerial heads may also roll as the party prepares for the assembly elections later this year and the general elections in 2014. Renu Mittal reports.
In the latest changes made by the Congress before the Chintan Shivir, former Karnataka Chief Minister and former Foreign Minister S M Krishna has been dropped as the chairman of the sub-group on foreign policy titled India and the world and instead Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has been put in his place.
The party, the sources said, has also approved 50 per cent representation to SCs, STs, OBCs and minorities at all levels of the organisation, as part of its social engineering efforts to win the confidence of the weaker and oppressed sections of society.
Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has worked for weeks to prepare speeches and the Congress' Jaipur Declaration. "This is the Obama moment of the Congress, where the party is re-energised with the rise of young leadership," he said.
In her inaugural address at the party's 'Chintan Shivir' in Udaipur, she urged delegates to deliberate with an open mind and send out a clear message of strong organisation and unity.
Senior Congress leaders Venugopal, Ajay Maken and Ashok Gehlot had on Wednesday took stock of the preparations for the Chintan Shivir.
Tharoor, among the group of 23 leaders who had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi in 2020 seeking large-scale reforms, said 'reformists' at the end of the day wanted a more consultative process where a wide variety of voices would be heard and taken into account before decisions were made.
Sending out a clear message to Congress ranks, Sonia said the party will have to change its style of functioning with changing times and urged them to keep the organisation above their personal ambitions.
Breaking away from tradition, several young Congress leaders are expected to speak at the AICC Chintan Shivir being held in Jaipur, reports Renu Mittal
"They (BJP) should announce their leader. They are fighting like cats and dogs. We are having our 'Chintan Shivir' here, they can't even hold a 'Shivir' like this because they are the puppets of RSS what will they think. They are anxious, but they very well twisted the words and said that it's not Congress's 'Chintan Shivir' but the Congress is nervous. This is their thinking. The people have rejected them," Congress MP Mani Shankar Aiyar said.
The Congress is likely to enforce the 'One family, one ticket' formula granting exemption to only another family member who has been doing 'exemplary work' for the party for a period of at least five years, as the grand old party promised big ticket changes while acknowledging that it had not kept pace with changing times.
Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the 'Nav Sankalp Chintan Shivir' is also aimed at deliberating on challenges facing the country such as "freefall of the economy", increasing inequality of wealth, price rise of essential commodities, "deep-rooted conspiracy" to hand over farming sector to a select group of private corporates, "attack on India's territorial integrity by China, "attack" on rights of Dalits, SCs/STs, minorities and attempts to divide by using Hindu-Muslim rhetoric.
'Rahul Gandhi wants a group under the name 'new generation'. But look at the people who surround him.'
Preparations for the Congress's Chintan Shivir -- which will be held in Jaipur on January 18-19 followed by the meeting of the All India Congress Committee on January 20 -- have entered a decisive stage with senior party leaders burning the midnight oil to iron out the creases and finalise last-minute details.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi also decided to convene a 'Chintan Shivir', a brainstorming session from May 13-15 in Udaipur.
Many in the Congress feel that holding meetings at the block, district and state levels would reveal the real reasons for the Congress's defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal reports
The Congress Working Committee, the party's top-decision making body, would soon meet to deliberate further on the Chintan Shivir plans, the sources said.
Noting that a very important policy for advancement of SCs and STs was Schedules Caste Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan, Raju said the group has recommended a central and states' legislation on them.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party chief Ajit Pawar on Friday said the party was still part of the Mahayuti alliance because of mutual respect among allies and its commitment to the state's progress.
Sunday's build-up for Rahul Gandhi as the Congress leader empowered to take decisions is a clear signal to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the next election belongs to the younger man.
The Congress party seems to have already deviated from the stance it took at recent Chintan Shivir in Jaipur and gone back to old ways of functioning. Renu Mittal reports
The Congress leader said that the party has taken up the "biggest task" of fighting against the "dictatorial government" alleging that there is an "emergency-like situation" in the country.
Rahul Gandhi is very, very different from all the Gandhis before him, says Aditi Phadnis
At its Jaipur meeting, the BJP will focus on this year's assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh while the Congress's Chintan Shivir in Udaipur will discuss how it can resurrect itself.
Hammered by the courts, trapped by scams and corruption charges, battling constant postponement of decisions and facing assembly elections in five states, the Congress party is likely to hold its chintan shivir (brainstorming session) in Jaipur on March 26-27 to make itself battle ready for the next round of elections.
"Wait for the news till evening" -- that was all that those taking part in the Congress Chintan Shivir were willing to say when scores of media persons quizzed them on speculations on Rahul Gandhi's elevation to play a larger role in the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Speaking at the concluding day of the three-day brainstorming session, Chintan Shivir, in Udaipur, Sonia Gandhi said, "We will launch a national Kanyakumari to Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra beginning on Gandhi Jayanti this year. All of us will participate in it."
The Congress' backfiring brainstorming sessions Sonia Gandhi's retirement date Ajit Jogi robotic legs and new ambitions All this and more in this week's Dilli Gupshup.
Implementation of sports bill in 6 months, regulation of participation standard safeguard: Mandaviya
Sheela Bhatt offers her take on Congress President Sonia Gandhi's speech that kicked off the the party's Chintan Shivir.
The meeting also includes some of Sonia Gandhi's close associates and is the first effort by the Congress leadership for a reproachment with those who raised questions over the leadership.
For the Congress' revival, the eclipse of the Gandhis is absolutely necessary, asserts Virendra Kapoor.
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