Senior Congress leaders met at 10, Janpath here on Tuesday evening against the backdrop of the killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and polling in five states.
Though there was no official word about the nature of the meeting the leaders had with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, a leader who was took part in the deliberations said it was a joint meeting.
They included Union ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma and party officials Digvijay Singh, Ahmed Patel and Suresh Pachouri. While Mr Azad is looking after the party affairs in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and Mr Singh is in-charge of the party affairs in Assam.
According to the sources, the AICC’s feedback from Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and West Bengal was on “expected lines”. In that situation, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi could get a third term while Mr Oommen Chandy has emerged as a strong contender for the Kerala chief minister’s post if the UDF gets majority.
In West Bengal, the Congress is keen on sharing power with the Trianmul Congress.
Meanwhile, a Pradesh Election Committee for Uttar Pradesh is expected to be announced during the week.
Mrs Sonia Gandhi is likely to formally launch the party’s preparations for next year’s UP Assembly elections at a meeting of state leaders in Varanasi on May 18 and 19. While she will be present on the second day of the conference, AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi is expected to be the key speaker on the opening day.
Though the Congress’ dependence on the BSP and Samajwadi Party at the Centre could dilute its attack on these parties, the Congress managers are confident to make dents in their support base among minorities.
Senior BJP leader Kalraj Mishra charged the Central and Uttar Pradesh governments with playing politics in the name of package for Bundelkhand region and demanded a white paper be issued on it.
“Both the governments are cooking up figures about the package provided to the region as also the work done there, neglecting the plight of the victims and it would be appropriate that a white paper be issued so that the people could to know the real picture,” Mr Mishra said in Lucknow during the day.