85th Congress plenary session begins in Raipur with Mallikarjun Kharge; Rahul Gandhi to attend the committee meeting. | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The Congress party’s 85th plenary session began on Friday in Raipur. The plenary session has started with the meeting of party’s steering committee under the presidency of Mallikarjun Kharge.
Meanwhile, former presidents Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were yet to arrive. Sources said the Gandhis are expected to join the session later in the day.
The Steering Committee is meeting in the morning, while the Subject Committee will meet in the evening.

Gehlot-Maken arrive in same bus
The members of the committee arrived in two buses, and Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Ajay Maken were in the same bus.
Differences had cropped up between the two leaders after the Rajasthan Congress MLAs defied party line and held a parallel meeting in September 2022. A miffed Maken had resigned as the party’s General Secretary in-charge of Rajasthan.

Expected agendas
– Sources indicate that the steering committee may decide for the Congress Working Committee (CWC) polls but it may be deferred for a few months and the polls may take place at a later stage.
– The Congress on Thursday said that it is ready to hold elections to the CWC — the party’s top decision-making authority — where 12 members are elected.
– During the conclave, the party is expected to take key decisions that would lay out a clear roadmap for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and finalise the strategy for forging poll tie-ups with like-minded parties to take on the BJP.
The session comes against the backdrop of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which the party has touted as a success, and will be attended by around 15,000 delegates.
The plenary session is being held at a time when the Congress faces unprecedented challenges electorally and even to its primacy in the opposition bloc.
While the Congress hopes to stitch an anti-BJP front for the 2024 polls, having said that it alone has the moral and the organisational power to lead it, clouds of disunity are hovering over it.
(With inputs from agencies)

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