By Praveen Dwivedi
Bhopal, May 25 (IANS) Around a dozen senior leaders of the Madhya Pradesh Congress unit, including two ex-CMs Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh, will attend a meeting scheduled to be held at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi on Friday.
After the Karnataka elections, the AICC is focusing on Madhya Pradesh. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will chair a meeting with the party’s senior leaders from the state. Sources in the Congress told IANS that the meeting would be held in the presence of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Sources also claimed that during the meeting the central leadership is likely to seek a consensus among the MP party leaders regarding the chief ministerial face for the upcoming assembly elections due later this year. “Obviously, Kamal Nath is an unopposed candidate for chief minister, however, a consensus is likely to be sought to avoid any disagreement within the MP unit,” a senior Congress leader in Madhya Pradesh told IANS requesting not to be named.
During the meeting, the leadership will review the preparations regarding the upcoming assembly polls, and a detailed discussion will be held especially on a ‘vachan patra’ (poll promises) prepared by the state party unit. Besides these, the top leadership is also likely to discuss the selection of candidates and how to corner the ruling BJP.
“Overall a complete blueprint is likely to be prepared in the meeting. Senior leaders would be assigned specific roles to ensure the party’s victory,” a Congress leader added.
Other senior leaders who will be attending Friday’s meeting, as per the sources, are Ajay Singh, Kantilal Bhuria, Govind Singh, Jitu Patwari, Suresh Pachouri and some others.
After Karnataka, the Congress central leadership is putting its complete focus on Madhya Pradesh, as the assembly poll results would be crucial for the general elections next year.
The party is set to kick-off its poll campaign with Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi’s mega rally scheduled in Jabalpur on June 12.
The MP Congress under the leadership of its president Kamal Nath had ousted the BJP from power in 2018. However, Jyotiraditya Scindia’s move to the BJP along with 22 MLAs had then resulted in the end of the Congress government within 15 months. Therefore, the central leadership would also give much thought to avoid such a situation again, if the party wins the elections which are just five months away now.
–IANS
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