NEW DELHI: Days after losing the no-trust vote against Modi government, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will chair a brainstorming session with senior leaders from across the country to chalk out strategy for the 2019 national polls.
Coinciding with the first meeting of the Congress Working Committee on July 22, Rahul has also called all AICC general secretaries and secretaries, state unit chiefs, legislative party leaders and parliamentarians for the brainstorming session.
The CWC, a blend of youth and experience, was reconstituted on July 17, seven months after Rahul became the Congress chief. In its first meeting, the CWC is likely to take a hard look at key political challenges including forging alliances with like-minded parties, addressing gaps in party organization, reviewing the four years of the Modi government and presenting an alternative vision for the country. Sources said flowing from what Rahul said during the no-trust motion debate in the Lok Sabha on Friday, the stress would be on presenting the Congress as party of inclusive development with love and compassion as central themes to counter Modi's divisive politics.
Besides, firming up the party's views on key issues like the farm crisis, sliding economy, joblessness and foreign policy with special emphasis on troubled Jammu and Kashmir will also be discussed at the strategy session, the sources said.
Leaders who work closely with Rahul said the party chief wants greater team work among the new AICC office bearers, many of whom have a Youth Congress background, and the seniors who have been close aides of former party chief Sonia Gandhi and are trying to get in sync with Rahul's style of functioning. "The whole nation has gone into poll mode including PM Modi. We need to have a plan ready and rolling," said a party insider, adding that "short of achievements to showcase, the PM would increasingly resort to mix religion with politics to polarize the voters."
Party managers acknowledged the Congress always focused on its inclusive agenda which catered to all sections of society but got painted in the negative light by the BJP's propaganda machinery.
"We have been able to counter them on social media but need to take our message effectively across the length and breadth of the country," said a senior CWC member. Further, as the strategy meet comes two days after the opposition lost the no-trust vote, the Congress managers would debate ways to counter and aggressive BJP for the remaining part of the monsoon session.