Team News Riveting
New Delhi, February 19
Ahead of the 85th All India Congress Committee (AICC) Plenary session to be held in Chhattisgarh capital, the grand-old party today gave a big signal to non-BJP camp and claimed that strong opposition unity was impossible without strong Congress.
Party’s 85th AICC Plenary Session will be held in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur from February 24 to 26. It would be attended by 15,000 delegates, among them 1,338 elected AICC delegates; 487 co-opted AICC delegates; 1915 elected Pradesh Congress members and 3000 co-opted; all district Congress chiefs, heads of AICC frontal organisations and departments. Besides, all Bharat Yatris who walked with Rahul Gandhi from Kanyakumari to Kashmir in Bharat Jodo Yatra would also attend the meet.
The Congress on Sunday said the issue of opposition unity would be deliberated at the crucial meeting and reflected in the political resolution. The party however said, “Strong Opposition unity is impossible without a strong Congress.”
“We do not need to give anyone a certificate that we have to lead because all attempts at Opposition unity will fail in the absence of the Congress,” AICC General Secretary and in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said. Strong Opposition unity is impossible without a strong Congress, he added.
“We will discuss in the plenary whatever needs to be discussed for 2024 elections and state elections prior to that and also the merits or pre- and post-poll alliances. We are already in pre-poll pacts in many states, including Bihar, Jharkhand, northeast, Kerala. So, it is not correct to say that the Congress does not strike pre-election alliances,” Ramesh said.
“The plenary will be an important milestone in the journey towards 2024 Parliament elections,” AICC General Secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said.
The Congress session is being held at a time when Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao is holding parallel attempts to forge the regional parties together and JDU’s Nitish Kumar is holding his own.
The Plenary Session of the Congress, expected to take a clear line on the nature of Opposition alliances ahead of the key General Election in 2024, will pass several resolutions, including political, economic, youth, marginalised sections, and will build on the success of Bharat Jodo Yatra, said AICC General Secretary Organisation KC Venugopal.
