Feedback from youth leaders important in preparing Congress strategy: Sachin Pilot

JAIPUR: Ground-level feedback from youth leaders will be important in preparing the Congress' strategy, said party leader Sachin Pilot on Wednesday ahead of its three-day brainstorming conclave in Rajasthan's Udaipur from May 13 to 15.

The party is holding the Chintan Shivir after a gap of almost nine years while facing "an unprecedented crisis" as it remains in power on its own in just two states and has less than 100 members in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Youths have been prioritised by the party for its Nav Chintan Shivir with nearly half of the delegates being under the age of 40, said Pilot, the former Rajasthan deputy chief minister.

He also said the session will reenergise the Congress and the organisational changes will be done after the Chintan Shivir.

During the conclave, the Congress will focus on time-bound party restructuring for strengthening the organisation and making it battle-ready for the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

"The Nav Sankalp Chintan Shivir in Udaipur will prove to be very important in deciding the future strategy," he told reporters here.

Over 400 delegates will participate in the three-day programme and half of them are under the age of 40, Pilot said, adding, "Youths have been given priority."

"Ground-level feedback from the leaders from different parts of the country such as the northeast and the south will be taken and it will be very important in preparing the strategy.

" Pilot also lashed out at the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre claiming that people now want to get rid of them and that the Congress was the only party which can challenge the BJP at the national level.

"The Union government is continuously misleading the people by diverting their attention from the real issues and selling the government companies," the Congress leader alleged.

"Instead of talking about issues like inflation, poor economy and unemployment, the BJP government at the Centre is doing politics of allegations. They should present their performance report. But they only blame the previous government, former prime minister Manmohan Singh and the Congress," he said.