Congress to work out poll strategy on Sep 13

New Delhi, Sep 8 (UNI) The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest policy making body of the Party that heads the ruling coalition at the Centre, will have a crucial meeting here on September 13 to discuss its strategy for the forthcoming assembly elections in six states and the Lok Sabha elections, due early next year.

An extended meeting of the CWC, it would be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and CWC members, besides Presidents of the Pradesh Congress Committee, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leaders and AICC Spokesmen.

"The meeting will begin at 1100 hrs on September 13 at the Parliament Annexe," AICC sources told UNI here today.

Though the focus of the meet would be the forhcoming elections, it would also discuss the Indo-US civil nuclear treaty, inflation, communal violence in Orissa.

The meeting will work out the broad contours for facing the assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Chattisgarh and Mizoram and the next Lok Sabha elections.

The ongoing talks with the Samajwadi Party to work out a seat sharing formula in Uttar Pradesh would figure in the meeting.

In the context of the convening of the extended meeting of the CWC, the "Chintan Shivir," proposed to be held in Delhi, will be cancelled.

The Congress had held "Chintan Shivir" at Pachmarhi and at Shimla in 1998 and 2003 respectively to fine-tune their stand and decide their strategy ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

UNI SH RL NS1816