Sonia Gandhi to address tribals in Rajasthan after conclusion of AICC’s ‘Sankalp Chintan Shivir’

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, AICC organisational general secretary K C Venugopal, AICC general secretary for Rajasthan Ajay Maken and PCC president Govind Singh Dotasara on Wednesday spent the whole day overseeing the preparation for the AICC’s ‘Sankalp Chintan Shivir’ to be held in the lake city of Udaipur from May 13 to May 15.

A day after the camp ends, on May 16, Congress president Sonia Gandhi will address a rally of the tribals at the holy village of Beneshwardham in Dungarpur district. She will also inaugurate a high-level bridge in Beneshwar that would improve connectivity and transportation in the tribal belt of Banswara and Dungarpur.

Gehlot on Wednesday visited Beneshwar along with some of his ministers to inspect the preparations being made there.

The party is focusing on the tribals of not only Rajasthan but also of the neighbouring states of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

It is likely that prior to the Sankalp Shivir, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will also address a rally in Udaipur.

Rajasthan will be hosting an introspection camp of this kind after nine years. A similar camp was held in Jaipur nine years ago when Rahul Gandhi was made the party’s vice president.

The main camp will be held in Taj Aravali where the Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi will stay.

The tarmac of the Udaipur airport has been repaired after it was found to be damaged.

The people of Udaipur are agog for this Shivir that would see the participation of all big leaders of the Congress.

The Sankalp Shivir is being held after the dismal performance of the party in the recent Vidhan Sabha elections in Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur and Goa.

The AICC, prior to the Udaipur Shivir, made some changes in the organizational set-up in Himachal Pradesh and in Haryana. MP Pratibha Singh was brought in as the president of Himachal Pradesh unit and Uday Bhan, a four-time legislator, was appointed as chief of the Haryana unit.

It is likely that a few more states would see changes in the organizational setup to strengthen the party.

The party is likely to focus on the Assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh due later this year and in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh next year. The party is keen to strengthen its base at ground level in all these states to regain power.

The Shivir will almost have the same flavour that is witnessed during an AICC session and like the AICC session, various committees would submit their report that would form the basis for the introspection camp.

It is learnt that apart from the AICC working committee members, all the party’s general secretaries for various states, members of Parliament, leaders of Congress legislature parties of various states and the Pradesh Congress presidents of various states are among the 400 participants expected to take part in the Shivir.

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.