Meeting of Congress CMs to fine tune strategy ahead of LS polls

Smarting under the defeat in four state polls, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has called a meeting of party Chief Ministers this week to fine tune the strategy for Lok Sabha polls in view of challenges like corruption and price rise.

AICC General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi today said that the purpose of December 27 meeting of leaders of Congress- ruled states is to discuss the future course in the wake of the passage of Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill.

Immediately after the results of the Assembly elections in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were out, Congress President Sonia Gandhi had listed price rise as an issue that could have led to the rout of the party in these states.

"Perhaps, price rise was also an issue. It was affecting people," she had said.

Dwivedi said that the meeting of the Congress Chief Ministers will also discuss the food security issue.

Congress has chief ministers in 12 states many of whom including Haryana and Uttarakhand were first to launch the scheme, which UPA believed was a gamechanger for 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

"The issue of price rise will also be raised in the meeting. What steps are be taken to arrest the rising prices will be discussed," Dwivedi said.

Rahul Gandhi has been raising the issue of corruption frequently in his meetings at the party fora as well his interactions and public fora.

At the FICCI meeting on December 21, Gandhi had said that corruption is the "biggest issue" that is "bleeding people dry". Flagging the concerns over price rise, he had said that beating inflation was top priority.

The meeting of the Chief Ministers comes before the January 17 AICC meeting in which the party will discuss its future strategy.