The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision making body of the party, is set to meet in Ahmedabad on March 12 to brainstorm on the upcoming Lok Sabha election, a party official said.
The Congress expects the Election Commission to notify the schedule of the Lok Sabha polls by March 12, the senior leader said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi will also be addressing a public rally as the party seeks to reassert the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel, the tallest Congress leaders from Gujarat.
The CWC meet, which was earlier scheduled for February 28, was cancelled in the wake of growing India-Pakistan tensions following the air strikes on the Jaish-e-Mohammad camp at Balakot across the border.
After a pause following the Pulwama attack and the subsequent air strikes, the party is now back to redrawing political strategy, especially on stitching alliances in the States.
Though the party’s Delhi unit has rejected an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party, the CWC can overturn the decision of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, if need be. West Bengal Congress chief Somen Mitra too wrote to Mr. Gandhi, stressing that the State unit was keen to contest Raiganj and Murshidabad — seats held by the CPI(M) — since the Congress had lost the two constituencies very narrowly in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
In Uttar Pradesh, even though general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Jyotiraditya Scindia have been roping in former Lok Sabha MPs from other parties — Savitri Bai Phule from the BJP, Rakesh Sachan from the Samajwadi Party and former Bahujan Samaj Party leader Kaisar Jahan — the option of being a part of the BSP-SP combine has not been completely ruled out.
Sources said that, the Congress was looking at both the two options: either being a part of the BSP-SP combine or stitching its own alliance with other players including Mulayam Singh Yadav’s brother Shivpal Yadav.
Officially though, the Congress insists it is preparing to contest all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the State.