The Extended Congress Working Committee meeting began in Ahmedabad on Tuesday at the Sardar Patel Memorial in Shahibaug. Over 159 members, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera and NSUI president Varun Choudhary are attending the meeting.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, who is also a CWC member, is not attending the meeting. Sources said that she is expected to be in Ahmedabad on Wednesday for the All India Congress Committee’s convention.
Six party leaders from Gujarat — Shaktisinh Gohil, Jagdish Thakor, Lalji Desai, Dr. Amee Yagnik, Madhusudhan Mistry and Amit Chavda are attending the CWC meeting.
There will be a prayer meeting at the Sabarmati Ashram in the evening and this will be followed by a cultural programme at the Sabarmati Riverfront.
Earlier in the day, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and other leaders were given a rousing welcome at the Sardar Patel International Airport. Troupes gave performances all along the route from the Airport to the meeting venue.
The Congress is expected to deliberate on ways to regain its lost ground in several parts of the country. Key issues from Gujarat will also be taken up for discussion.
On Monday, Pawan Khera, chairman of the party’s media and publicity wing, had said the party will fight against the problems being faced by the middle class, businessmen and the minorities. He even held that there is pressure on the media and democracy is being killed. The struggle will end soon, Khera said.
The AICC convention is being organised in Gujarat after 64 years. Last time it was organised in Bhavnagar in 1961. This convention coincides with the 150th birth centenary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and it also marks 100 years of Mahatma Gandhi becoming president of the party.
Organising the event has not been easy for the Congress in Gujarat that has been ruled by the BJP for over three decades. Party sources told Vibes of India that at least at two places they were denied permission to hold the convention.
The NSUI leaders and workers have taken up the responsibility of taking care of the delegates who have come for the CWC meeting and AICC session. The leaders have been booked in various hotels of the city.
The Gujarat Congress is hopeful that the two-day programme will infuse much needed enthusiasm in its cadres. The Congress not only performed badly in the 2022 assembly elections, but its performance in the recent elections to the local self-government bodies remained far from desired.
