New Delhi, May 11: The much-talked about ‘chintan shivir' of Congress, to introspect serious issues including corruption, is likely to take place next month in Rajasthan.
Sources in the party said though the date and venue of the chintan shivir (brainstorming session) has yet not been finalised, it is most likely to take place in Mount Abu due to cool weather there.
Congress is the ruling party in Rajasthan, and traditionally such shivirs are organized in only those states where the party is in power.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had made an announcement regarding holding such a shivir during the party's plenary session held in the national capital last December. The party planned to hold a ‘chintan shivir' soon on the lines of Pachmarhi and Shimla.
Gandhi had said that plans were afoot to hold a brainstorming session in the next few months to give the party “an opportunity to refresh its perspectives on crucial national issues and also review the functioning of the organisation”.
“It will be an occasion to hear the voices of our colleagues, particularly the younger ones, to bring new energy to our thinking,” she had said.
Gandhi's announcement had come at a time when the party was faced with a series of corruption allegations against the government and a crushing defeat in Bihar assembly polls.
The chintan shivir, being held in June, comes after the results of elections in five states which will be out on May 13. It will give an opportunity to the party to introspect its future strategies in the light of election results.
At the plenary, Gandhi had said, “Throughout its history, the Congress has been a party of ideas responding to changing political and economic circumstances. I firmly believe that we must periodically introspect together and if necessary reassess our position on critical issues to keep pace with the time.”
Incidentally, Pachmarhi conclave was the brainchild of Gandhi, who had taken over as party chief a few months earlier in April 1998 from the late Sitaram Kesari when the party was going through a bad patch politically.
At Pachmarhi, Congress had taken an ambivalent position on the issue of coalition, noting that the country was passing through a transient phase.
The Shimla conclave was held in 2003 and the Shimla resolve calling for unity of all secular forces resulted in the ouster of the BJP-led NDA in mid-2004 under the leadership of Gandhi.
The sources said that the issue of corruption as well as key organisational issues are likely to be brainstormed in the shivir. PTI
