| Congress President Sonia Gandhi will address the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) meet on March 11 where she is expected to focus on how the party should gear up to spread out the message of the 2008-09 Budget.
|
| |
| According to party sources, in the CPP speech, which acts as a road map for the party, Gandhi will also send a political signal that the Congress would not want to bow to the Left on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal but take it to fruition, after taking them into confidence.
|
| |
| Gandhi has been meeting party MPs in small groups in the past few days. According to party sources, the main agenda has been to instruct the MPs that they should not waste time and immediately start campaigns in their own constituencies.
|
| |
| “The party brass feels that the euphoria of the Budget will not last for long. And there is a need for an effective campaign to retain the momentum,” said an MP from Maharashtra.
|
| |
| Gandhi has also made it clear that the high command will not tolerate infighting ahead of the state and general elections.
|
| |
| According to a senior minister: “She has given clear instructions on three aspects keeping in mind the elections. In states where the Congress is in power on its own, the chief minister and the state unit president will work together and this should be visible. Where we are sharing power with allies, the party should not allow any public display of disputes with the allies and differences should be narrowed down. In places where the Congress is in the Opposition, the party has to propel a campaign against the ruling party while highlighting the achievements of the UPA government.”
|
| |
| In the last session of Parliament in December 2007, Gandhi did not address the CPP as the session was truncated. Before that, in the monsoon session, she made it plain that price rise should be the party's major concern.
|
| |
| After a long gap, she will formally addresss her parliamentary colleagues. While price rise continues to be a political problem area for the Congress, Gandhi is also likely to use this opportunity to try to shift the focus from price rise to the positive aspects of the Budget 2008-09, the biggest being the farm loan waiver. Before Gandhi calls the CPP meet, UPA allies will have a co-ordination meeting on March 9. |
| |
|
| |
Content Guide
