The Congress has decided to call a meeting of those leaders who missed the Udaipur Chintan Shivir. Those who will be invited include ministers in state governments, working state presidents and party spokespersons.
Sources say that the one-day meet is likely to be held in June. The meeting in which Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will be participating will be held on the lines of Chintan Shivir and will not be a one-way talk. About 120 leaders including working presidents, ministers in state governments and spokespersons of the party will be participating.
The party had to take this step following resentment within the party as several leaders did not get the invite for the Chintan Shivir. Sonia Gandhi in her opening remarks at the Chintan Shivir had said that those who are not here are as important to the party as those who are here.
"I am well aware that many of our colleagues wanted to be here but we had to limit participation for a variety of reasons. I am sure they will understand. Not being here does not in any way devalue the role they are playing in our organization," she had said.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi had announced after the Chintan Shivir that the party will embark on a "Bharat Jodo" padyatra from October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, and will also set a task force for internal reforms within a week.
An advisory body to advise the Congress President in day-to-day functioning will also be constituted, she said in her concluding remarks at the concluding day of the party's three-day 'Chintan Shivir' (brainstorming camp) in Udaipur.
"We will launch a national Kanyakumari to Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra from Gandhi Jayanti this year. All of us will participate in it. The Yatra is to strengthen the bonds of social harmony that are under stress, to preserve the foundational values of our Constitution that are under assault, and to highlight the day-to-day concerns of crores of our people," Sonia Gandhi had said.
