Cong strategises on key issues ahead of PM's meeting with party chiefs

A meeting of the Congress top brass, including Sonia Gandhi and party chief Rahul Gandhi, was held here to decide the strategy on key matters such as Lok Sabha speaker's election and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to discuss the 'one nation, one election' issue.

Sources said the meeting, chaired by Congress Parliamentary Party leader Sonia Gandhi and attended by Rahul Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh, discussed the strategy to be adopted by the party during the meeting called by the prime minister.

Senior Congress leaders A K Antony, P Chidambaram, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Jairam Ramesh, K Suresh, and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, were among those present at the meeting held at Sonia Gandhi's residence 10, Janpath.

Modi has invited heads of all parties who have an MP either in Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha for a meeting on Wednesday.

The meeting has been called to discuss the "one nation, one election" issue, celebration of the 75 years of Independence in 2022 and 150 years of Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary this year. It will be followed by a dinner-meeting with all MPs on June 20.

The strategy for the dinner-meeting was also discussed at the Congress meeting, sources said.

The Congress top brass also deliberated on the issue of Lok Sabha speaker's election.

Asked about two-time BJP MP Om Birla being the NDA nominee for the speaker's post, Chowdhury, speaking to reporters after the meeting, said: "No problem, we won't oppose anyone's name."
On Prime Minister Modi's appeal to the Opposition that it should not worry about numbers, Chowdhury said: "That is the core essence of democracy. Democracy is not determined only by numbers, it is determined by opinion, discussions and dialogue."