Panels for LS poll by month-end: Congress

Shubhadeep Choudhury

New Delhi, December 21

Claiming that the recent setbacks in the Assembly elections has not dampened its morale, the Congress today announced initiating a series of steps in view of the coming Lok Sabha elections, including constituting the manifesto committee by Saturday and the screening committee for selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls by the month-end.

Briefing reporters after a meeting of the Congress Working Committee here presided over by party president Mallikarjun Kharge, KC Venugopal, general secretary (organisation) said the manifesto committee (to draft the election manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls) would be constituted “within next one or two days”.

“The screening committee would be constituted this month itself,” Venugopal said.

Kharge has also asked the national alliance committee of the party to start discussions with other parties during the next 10 days regarding electoral tie-up for the Lok Sabha elections, Venugopal said.

“The Congress president has given a clear direction to the alliance committee that alliance discussion will have to start without any delay, this month itself. They are in the process of calling the state units which will be followed with a conversation with the allies,” Venugopal said.

The Congress announced a five-member national alliance committee on December 19, just before the meeting of the INDIA bloc got underway.

Venugopal said while the party lost in the three Hindi heartland states, it is not worried since its vote share has remained intact in these states.

Asked whether party leader Rahul Gandhi would be launching a second edition of the “Bharat Jodo Yatra” before the Lok Sabha elections, Venugopal said the Congress president told Gandhi in today’s meeting to undertake such a yatra again, this time from east to west.