BENGALURU: Congress seems to have realised that its run for the Lok Sabha elections in the state will not be as easy as it thought when it came to power with a thumping majority in the Assembly polls in May.
Congress state president DK Shivakumar has now called a meeting of district ministers, observers, working presidents, AICC secretaries, PCC vice-presidents, Assembly and Council members on January 10 to discuss preparation for the elections. The polls are crucial for the Grand Old Party, which won just one seat in the 2019 elections.
Shivakumar told TNIE, “We will get reports and feedback from observers. We will discuss in detail as to how to take this important campaign forward. We will also work towards getting prepared for our campaign. We are planning to release our list of candidates by January-end.’’
Working president Saleem Ahmed said, “The meeting will discuss preparations for the polls in detail. We will take the success of guarantee schemes to all districts and constituencies across the state.’’
CM Siddaramaiah and state party leaders are headed to Delhi on Wednesday and poll preparation is expected to come up for discussion on Thursday. Appointments to boards and corporations are likely to be discussed. The leaders will also brainstorm on senior party leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra 2.0, sources said.
Many experts have pointed to the lack of winnable candidates in Congress. Saleem Ahmed, however, said the party will field candidates in all the 28 constituencies and the party will do well.
“We will make people realise the failures of the Union government over the last ten years. The saffron party’s inability to provide jobs to 2 crore youth, will be the focus of the meetings,” he added.