Elaborate arrangements for Congress session

    Hyderabad: The Congress party is making elaborate efforts to make the three-day 82nd plenary session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) which begins tomorrow at Gachibowli Stadium here a memorable event. "Ateet ki neev bhavishyaka nirman nayi zimmedari (foundation of the past, nation building and new responsibility) is the slogan of the session. The conclave is expected to pass four resolutions on the political situation, external affairs, economic affairs and agricultural and rural development. Congress President Sonia Gandhi will address the session on the January 22 and the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the concluding day on January 23.

   The meeting of 112-member extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) on the opening day will prepare the draft of the four resolutions which will be discussed over the next two days. The session would be attended by as many as 10,748 party delegates -- 2,131 representing the AICC and 8,617 from the PCCs -- including the 15 Chief Ministers. In the wake of the recent terror attack on Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, tight security arrangements have been made with thousands of policemen and paramilitary personnel stationed in the state. The entry into the plenary would be strictly through pass issued by the AICC. More than 15000 police personnel of various wings of police force have been deployed in the region, besides squad of 50-armed police of Andhra Pradesh Special Police (APSP). Considering Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) threat to launch a protest demonstration, demanding categorization of Scheduled Castes into four groups Police have already imposed prohibitory orders.

   The Special Protection Group (SPG) will also keep a tight vigil in the area. Two media centres with over 90 computers have been arranged for the convenience of the mediapersons. As a party of arrangements in the city, the hospitals will keep their experts ready along with equipments for emergency at the venue. Rajiv Gandhi's son and party MP Rahul Gandhi will attend the meet but daughter Priyanka Vadra has not yet confirmed her participation. Unlike the plenary at Tirupati in 1992 and Kolkata in 1997, Hyderabad would not witness any elections for CWC. There is expectation in party circles that demands would be voiced at Hyderabad for inducting Rahul Gandhi in the CWC. Other dominating feature of the session will be the discussions on government's performance after coming to power at the centre in May 2004, and reviving the organisation particularly in north India. The party is likely to hail the achievements of the UPA coalition like the National Rural Employment Guarantee programme, Right to Information Act and the ambitious Bharat Nirman for creation of rural infrastructure. The strategy for coming assembly elections in five states, including West Bengal and Kerala where the principal opponent to the Congress are the Left parties presently supporting the Central coalition from outside, will also be worked out. Thus Congress would be confronted with the problem of balancing the coalition at the Centre and in states and strengthening the organisation.

   The plenary is being held at a time when the Congress-led coalition government in Karnataka is on the brink of losing majority in the house. However, the AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh has said that the developments in Karnataka would have no impact on the plenary. It is now that the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party is facing image crisis and it delivered a heavy blow to the ruling Rashtriya Janta Dal party in Bihar last year by winning assembly polls. It was unclear how the Congress would approach the issue of creation of smaller states like Telangana while Telangana Rashtra Samiti is its ally. Issues like strengthening the party and turning "infighting" in BJP to its advantage and revival of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar would be discussed. The session is seen as a show by the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister after he led the party back to power in the state ousting the Telugu Desam Party headed by Chandrababu Naidu from power in 2004.

Demand to Rahul Gandhi in Congress Working Comittee

     New Delhi: Just a day ahead of the All India Congress Committee plenary session in Hyderabad, Jitin Prasad, Lok Sabha MP from Shahjehanpur (Uttar Pradesh) has made a demand for the entry of Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi into the Congress Working Committee (CWC). The entry into the CWC will secure Rahul Gandhi a position in the organizational hierarchy. Jitin Prasad, classmate of Rahul Gandhi at Doon School in this regard has written a letter to UPCC chief Salman Khurshid. In his letter, Prasad said he toured the state since the last Lok Sabha polls and a large number of Congress workers, voters and well-wishers wanted him to convince Gandhi to play a bigger role in the party, if the party is to mobilize Congress workers and resurrect the Partys fortunes in the state. Party leaders have pointed out that the five vacancies in the CWC would be filled after the AICC plenary session later this month, indicating Rahul Gandhi may be nominated at that stage. Although 12 of the 25 CWC members are to be elected, all state units and the AICC had passed resolutions authorizing Sonia Gandhi to nominate all members. Besides naming 20 members to the CWC on January 6, Sonia Gandhi had nominated another 27 as permanent and special invitees to the CWC in an effort to give greater representation to different regions, generations and castes. Former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, who was forced to quit the government after the Volcker controversy and was already dropped from the party's steering committee, had not found a place in the reconstituted CWC.

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