We will overcome, says Sonia, announces political advisory group on party reform

With the Congress announcing a host of internal reforms party chief Sonia Gandhi on Sunday said a task force would be set up in the next 23 days to implement them and an advisory committee of CWC members headed by her will be formed to deliberate on political issues making it clear that it will not be a collective decisionmaking bodyHer assertion assumes significance as the G23 dissident leaders had made a persistent call for collective leadership in the party while demanding an organisational overhaulIn her concluding remarks at the Chintan Shivir Sonia Gandhi said the threeday conclave has been very useful and productive as many leaders expressed their views openly and offered suggestions in a spirit of constructive participationWe will overcome That is our determination That is our Nav Sankalp new resolution The Congress will have a new uday dawn That is our Nav Sankalp said the 75yearold longestserving president of the party which has seen a sharp decline in its electoral fortunes since 2014Gandhi said a compact task force will be set up to drive the process of internal reforms that are essential and have been discussed in different groups during the Udaipur meetingThese reforms with a focus on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls will cover all aspects of the organisation including structure rules for appointments to party posts communications and publicity outreach finances and election management she said in her concluding remarksThe composition of the task force will be notified in the next twothree daysI have also decided to have an advisory group drawn from the CWC that would meet regularly under my chairpersonship to discuss and deliberate upon political issues and challenges before our party Of course we do have the CWC that meets from time to time and that will continueThe new group is not however a collective decisionmaking body but will help me get the benefit of the vast experience of senior colleagues she asserted and said it will be notified very soonGandhi also announced that the Congress will launch a national Kanyakumari to Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra beginning October 2 on Gandhi Jayanti this year and everyone will participate in itAll of us young and old will participate in it Seniors will have to find ways to accommodate seniors like me in this on how to easily participate in this yatra without having to run out of breath she said in a lighter veinThe yatra she said is aimed at strengthening the bonds of social harmony that are under stress preserving the foundational values of our Constitution that are under assault and highlighting the daytoday concerns of crores of peopleThe Congress chief said phase2 of the districtlevel Jan Jagran Abhiyan that was launched earlier will resume on June 15 and will highlight economic issues especially the growing unemployment and intolerable price rise that is destroying livelihoodsThe summary of discussions of each of the six groups will inform about the party positions policies and programmes and will be of value in preparing manifestos for state and national elections she saidShe said that some of the ideas of the organisation panel are part of the Udaipur NavSankalp Declaration and assured that detailed recommendations of the group will be acted upon expeditiouslyWe will undoubtedly leave reenergised with a refreshed spirit of collective purpose she saidGandhi said throughout the last three days colleagues have come to know each other to meet and interact with senior and younger colleagues and said she sat through all the six groups and listened to some of the speakersShe said that on a personal note at the dinner hosted last night she felt that she spent the evening with my family and my larger familyI was touched when some of the younger guests and colleagues shared the same view So I hope that this is the spirit in which we will disperse from this Chintan Shivir she saidOver 400 party leaders from across the country participated in the deliberations at the Shivir which was announced after renewed calls for reforms in the party in the wake of a string of electoral reversesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever