Cong resolution to focus on UPA's growth story

Caught in a mess over financial scams and questionable policies, the Congress party in its economic resolution for its Plenary Session will essentially highlight major achievements of the UPA government to divert attention to more positive issues.

But the underlying theme of the resolution, currently under preparation, is that the party is committed to the growth story of India where the participation of the private sector is essential.

The economic resolution, to be discussed and adopted at the 83rd Plenary Session of the All Iindia Congress Committee, will try to showcase how the Congress-led UPA government is rolling out major entitlements backed by constitutional rights in the social sector for economic and social empowerment of the aam aadmi. It will talk about the Right to Education Act that has been implemented from April 1, and promise to introduce the much-awaited Food Security Act soon.

The draft economic resolution will also talk of how the UPA government has extended “unprecedented” financial assistance to the states. This positioning of the Congress comes at a time when it is under an all-round attack from several opposition parties.

The economic resolution will also spell out how the Congress-led government has given economic stability to the country during the recent global financial crisis. The resolution will have subtle messages for India Inc and is likely to speak about the fiscal stimulus packages offered by the Congress-led UPA government to give impetus to various sectors. The handling of the global financial crisis by the Congress-led UPA government and managing a high growth rate even as major economies faced a slump will be covered at length in the economic resolution.

According to a leader involved in the process of formulating the draft, “the economic resolution will essentially focus on the achievements of the Congress-led government and how it wants to take the process forward. There is not much scope of any major policy shift because barely one-and-a-half year has passed after the second UPA government came to power.”

Congress President Sonia Gandhi has formed three sub-committees to finalise the draft of the party’s political, economic and foreign affairs resolutions. The sub-committee on the economic resolution is headed by Finance Minister and CWC member Pranab Mukherjee.

The Steering Committee will meet on Saturday morning to discuss the draft resolutions before placing these before the Plenary for approval on Sunday and Monday, respectively. The economic resolution will be discussed in the Plenary on Monday along with issues on foreign affairs.