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The Congress’ plenary session in March will prepare a “vision document” to reach out to leaders and activists who had left the party over various differences. Party sources say new chief Rahul Gandhi has directed State units and general secretaries to strengthen the party by bringing back those who had deserted them.
A Congress General Secretary confirmed the development. He, however, said there are no immediate plans to approach “big leaders” such as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar. “The Congress President is of the opinion that we should convince those who left [the Congress] that they should come back in the interest of the country. At present, we do not have any structure to materialise this direction. We will frame a vision document in the plenary on this,” the party leader told BusinessLine.
The three-day plenary session will begin on March 16. Apart from elections to the Congress Working Committee, the session will also brainstorm on the party’s future plans, given that elections to several crucial States and the Lok Sabha are lined up ahead.
The Congress had recently welcomed former Delhi Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely and expelled BSP leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui into its fold. Siddiqui, who was a trusted lieutenant of BSP leader Mayawati, said his parents were associated with the Congress, and that returning to where he originally belonged is the need of the hour.
Welcoming Siddiqui, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad had said that more people would join the Congress in the coming days. “This is a sign of changing times and what the future holds for the Congress. We believe this is only the beginning of a national trend. The Congress is regrouping and signs of its national rejuvenation are there for everyone to see,” Azad had said on Thursday.
The Congress believes that it can strengthen its ground by getting its own people from other parties. In recent years, leaders such as Narayan Dutt Tiwari, Vijay Bahuguna, Satpal Maharaj, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chaudhary Virendra Singh and Rao Inderjit Singh had left the Congress to join the BJP. This had led to the Congress suffering electorally in States such as Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand.
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