New Delhi:
In the thick of allegations surrounding the 2G spectrum scam, Congress leaders from across the country begin a three-day Congress leadership meet today to chalk out the roadmap for future.
The session is being held in Burari in Delhi and will be attended by close to 20,000 Congressmen from across the country. The party is celebrating its 125th anniversary.
Burari, a Delhi suburb, has been transformed for the country's most keenly watched political event. Just for the occasion, the place now has its own post office, a hospital and a helipad. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is overseeing the arrangements herself. Organisers say the event will have food from all over the country. But coming in the middle of a major political standoff over the 2G spectrum scam, some serious introspection is on the menu.
The meeting is important as it will also decide the strategy ahead for the party with 2011 scheduled to have elections to the assemblies of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, Assam and West Bengal, while 2012 will see the battle of the ballot in politically-key Uttar Pradesh along with some other states including BJP-ruled Gujarat.
A section of the UPA believes that if the Opposition continued on the course of confrontation on the 2G issue in the new year, the possibility of mid-term elections could not be ruled out. However, Congress leaders like Digvijaya Singh have dismissed such an eventuality.
Congress is all set to aggressively counter the Opposition campaign against the government on corruption issue at the meeting.
Another issue likely to be discussed at the meeting is a WikiLeaks cable on Rahul Gandhi that has provoked a fiery political conspiracy. The cable states that Gandhi told the US Ambassador to India that Hindu extremism is a bigger threat to India than the Lashkar-e-Toiba. Reacting to the cable, the BJP has accused Gandhi of weakening India's war against terror with his remarks.