As the session is expected to focus on ways to revitalise the Congress organisationally, especially a plan for the District Congress Committees, for party mobilisation for the coming elections, many feel the real test would be whether the leadership can demonstrate a new and credible vision beyond the platitudes, and ‘walk the Ahmedabad session talks’, or will only end up confining the affirmations to the shelf as it did with the much touted Udaipur Chintan Shivar declaration.
Flagging issues
The Congress Working Committee will meet in Ahmedabad on the session-eve to finetune the draft resolution, apparently a single one this time with political-organisational-economic-social-international issues combined . As the central government is grappling to deal with US President Trump’s tariff dictates, the resolution will position politically by making its concern over tariff-war fallout on the domestic economy and sectors, including farmers, a major plank. Besides the mandatory hard-talks against the politics and policies of the Modi government and the BJP-RSS, the session is expected to red-flag its concerns about election process, including electoral roll preparation and EVM accuracy, and will call for an organisational vigil on the ground and a mobilisation against it. The resolution will make the Congress fully identify with brewing protests over issues such as population-based delimitation formula, UGC draft rules, the MSP issues of farmers, unemployment concerns of youth besides unrolling and elaborate critique of the state of economy.
Rahul Planks
While this would be the second AICC session being presided over by party president Mallikarjun Kharge, it will be centered around leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, who is the de facto leader, with his pet-themes, including OBC-SC-ST-youth matters, caste census and reservation cap beyond 50% cap, are expected to dominate the session by getting its official stamp. The party circles are curious whether Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who skipped the waqf bill debate and voting in Parliament, would return from abroad in time to hog her share of position and limelight at the AICC session.The Alliance Question The Alliance Question: With the INDIA bloc now virtually in a state of functional paralysis, the AICC session will signal whether the leadership’s priority is to take more initiative for repairing and stabilising the alliance or focus on reviving the Congress with alliance focus limited to state-wise viability. Some leaders feel the INDIA bloc, as a national Opposition framework on the ground, is past its shelf-life and its utility is now limited to occasional joint protest in Parliament.
Symbolic venue
The AICC is returning to hold its session sixth time in Gujarat ( the first since 1961) coinciding with the centenary of Mahatma Gandhi’s Congress presidency and the 150th birth anniversary and 75th death anniversary of Sardar Patel, ironically, at a time when the BJP’s nearly three-decade power-hold on the state has erased the Gujarat Congress’ past citadels and legacies. This, many Congress leaders feel, makes Ahmedabad a symbolic venue for the AICC session, to take inspiration from its glorious past and to look closely at the magnitude of the present challenge.
