Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday night held a marathon meeting with the leaders from Punjab here to plan the party’s strategy for the 2017 state Assembly elections.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday night held a marathon meeting with the leaders from Punjab here to plan the party’s strategy for the 2017 state Assembly elections.
The meeting, which started around 7 pm at the party’s “war room” continued for over four hours and was also attended by poll strategist Prashant Kishor.
All prominent leaders from the state, including former PCC chiefs — Partap Singh Bajwa, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Shamsher Singh Dullo — and senior party leader Ambika Soni, MPs and ex-MPs, attended the meeting but senior leader Jagmit Singh Brar was conspicuous by his absence. Around 30 state leaders were also present during the meet.
Sources said the party also discussed its plans on how to counter the AAP which is a growing force in the state and mooted ways to reach out to the targeted electorate, especially the youth.
The Congress which has been out of power in Punjab for the past decade is keen to end this “bad patch” by bringing its traditional voters back to its fold, especially dalits and the marginalised sections.
The party will chalk out plans of holding interactions with the youth and various other sections in the coming months, sources said.
PCC chief Amarinder Singh later said that the meeting was aimed at discussing the poll strategy and evolve plans for the party’s campaign ahead.
Various leaders also gave their suggestions aimed at wooing the masses and countering the growing influence of the Aam Aadmi Party in the state.
Apart from the ruling SAD-BJP combine, the party is set to face a spirited challenge from the AAP, which is gaining ground in the agrarian border state.
The Punjab polls are important for the party as its victory could boost up the morale of the party in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
