Congress plenary session begins today in Raipur; to lay roadmap for 2024 Lok Sabha elections

Plenary session is expected to lay out a clear roadmap for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and will be attended by around 15,000 delegates.

Hyderabad/Raipur:Congress the steering committee led by party president Mallikarjun Kharge will begin in Chhattisgarh's Nava Raipur at 10 am on Friday marking the beginning of the party's 85th plenary session, which will conclude on Feb. 26 with a public meeting in the evening.

Roadmap to 2024 LS Polls-The meet comes close on the heels of the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, dubbed as a success by the party. Nine states including Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka will have Assembly polls this year.

Winning few of these major states would hold the key to party's revival hopes at the Centre ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The party serves as the principal opposition in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. At present, Congress is in power in three states on its own — Himachal Pradesh, and in the poll-bound states Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. It is in alliance with the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu.

Steering Committee-The steering committee, which is playing the role of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) which remains dissolved, will deliberate on how to revive the top decision-making body or not and whether or not to have elections for the same. Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, her children Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are members of the Steering Committee. Their participation in the Steering Committee is yet to be confirmed.

Leaders demand election to CWC- It is pertinent to note the senior leaders like P Chidambaram have lent their voices to get the CWC up and running through elections as envisaged under the the AICC constitution. Many have suggested to include younger leaders in the party's top decision-making body.

The party constitution suggests the working committee should comprise the president of the Congress, the Leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party and 23 other members. Of this 23, the party chief will appoint 11, and the rest 12 members will have to be elected by the AICC.

Ready for CWC polls-Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said all preparations are in place for holding the CWC polls in case the steering committee decides in favour of having the elections. The steering committee will decide... This matter will certainly come up during the steering committee meeting. The committee will decide as per the party's constitution.

He said the Congress is the only party that has held polls for party president's post and there have been elections for the CWC in the past as well. There is no political party that has elections for party posts and in the last 22 years, the Congress is the only party that has an impartial election body for holding internal polls, he claimed.

Event schedule- On day one, the steering committee will meet at 10 am on Friday. There will be a meeting of the subjects committee at 4 pm. It will take up six resolutions for consideration. These resolutions will be discussed on Feb. 25 and Feb. 26. Resolutions related to political, economic and international issues will be taken up for discussion on Feb. 25.

Resolutions related to agriculture and farmers welfare; social justice and empowerment; and youth, employment and education will be debated on Feb. 26. On the last day, the Congress President will address the plenary session at 2 pm and it will follow a public meeting at 4 pm.