Rajasthan set to host Congress’ introspection meet again after nine years

After nine years, Rajasthan will once again be hosting the All India Congress Committee’s introspection camp which has been aptly named as ‘Nav Sankalp Chintan Shivir’.

This event, which would be held in the lake city of Udaipur from May 13 to 15, will see the presence of 400 delegates from all parts of the country.

The party is likely to focus on giving the century-old party an organizational restructuring and strengthening the party at the grass roots to address contemporary political challenges.

The party, after the recent electoral reverses, would gear up itself by rejuvenating the outfit with new flow of vigour with its main focus on the next Lok Sabha election due in 2024.

It's likely that the party will discuss issues related to agriculture and farmers, social empowerment, youth empowerment, issues related to the economy, party’s organization issues and various political issues.

The BJP in the state has been focusing on the tribal areas of Mewar region which is known for the valour of Maharana Pratap who faced the might of emperor Akbar in the war field of Haldighati. Three districts – Manswara, Dungarpur and Pratabgarh – have all the Assembly seats reserved for the tribals and Mewar and Vagad regions combined have two Lok Sabha seats reserved for the tribals.

The region, because of its close proximity to both Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, is strategically and politically important for the party.

The Congress did well in the Assembly elections in 2018 and since then various tribal welfare schemes that were launched have given the party good dividends. It wants to consolidate on its gains and also send messages to the tribal areas of both Rajasthan and Gujarat, particularly the latter where the Assembly election is due to be held this year.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has been touring various districts in Mewar and before suggesting to the party’s leadership in Delhi to hold the introspection camp in Udaipur, met the tribal leaders of the region who all suggested that holding the camp in Udaipur will help the party a great deal.

The venue of the camp will be Taj Aravalia hotel located in the Bujhda area of the picturesque lake city surrounded by the Aravali hills.

The various resolutions to be passed during the camp will be formulated by various committees. The resolution on agriculture will be prepared by a committee headed by Bhupendra Singh Hooda; on political situation by a party headed by the leader of the party in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge; on economic situation by former finance minister P Chidambaram; on social empowerment by Salman Khurshid; on organisational changes by Mukul Wasnik and youth and empowerment issues by Amrinder Singh Raja Warring.

The party is likely to discuss issues relating to the polls held recently and issues relating to forging alliances with regional parties. Some senior party leaders feel that the party should forge an alliance with like-minded parties in various states as an ideal political foil for electoral success.

The party will hear the various Pradesh Congress president’s suggestions on forging alliances with various regional parties for the Lok Sabha election to fight the might of the BJP.

In 2013, at Jaipur, the party had held a “heart-to-heart” introspection in which it was decided to nominate Rahul Gandhi as the party’s vice president.