Udaipur set to host AICC meet next month, will be attended by leaders from across nation

Udaipur is all set to host AICC Chintan Shivir, or introspection camp, next month. It is likely that the three-day camp will be held from May 14 to 16 in the Lake City, which has been strategically chosen as the venue keeping in mind the neighbouring state of Gujarat which will go for Assembly election in the near future.

Another reason for holding the camp in Udaipur is that the division has a large population of tribals, and the party is keen to send a political message to the tribals of not only Rajasthan but also of neighbouring Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

The Shivir will see the presence of the party’s national leaders including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, besides all general secretaries, to mull on reasons why the Congress could not perform well in recent elections held in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, and Goa. The meeting will review the results in these states and discuss future strategies.

It is likely that before the party meets for the introspection camp, the working committee will meet in Delhi.

Rajasthan unit of the Congress is keen to hold the camp in Udaipur as this would help the party to send a message to the people of the state on the various welfare schemes launched by the Ashok Gehlot government and the measures to be adopted for the party to retain power in the 2023 Vidhan Sabha elections.

According to party sources, AICC general secretary in charge of Rajasthan Raghu Sharma also suggested that holding the camp in Udaipur will help the party to send a strong message in Gujarat.

In all, about 200 persons that would include various state units’ presidents and the members of the party’s working committee would participate in the strategic meeting.

It is likely that the party would also discuss various issues related to new alliance politics.

Rajasthan Pradesh Congress is also reviewing a recent meeting of the state BJP leaders in Delhi in which all senior BJP state unit functionaries had a five-hour-long meeting in the presence of BJP national president J P Nadda.

The Rajasthan unit of the BJP is faction-ridden and various groups are unitedly against former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, with a number of new claimants emerging in recent times who are aspiring to be projected as the party’s CM candidate. Apart from Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, state unit president Satish Punia and the deputy leader of the opposition Rajendra Singh Rathor are in the fray for that.

The meeting held on Tuesday in Delhi, however, saw Nadda giving importance to Vasundhara Raje, queering the pitch.

It may be recalled that nine years ago, when the state was ruled by the Congress and Ashok Gehlot was the Chief Minister, a similar Chintan Shivir was organised in Jaipur, during which Rahul Gandhi was appointed the Vice President of the party.

The party’s political observers feel that the Udaipur camp will have a lot of importance for the party’s future course of action.