Political deliberations behind closed doors and meetings with Congress ticket contenders for the coming Vidhan Sabha elections, party leaders and cadre at various levels were among the activities held in Dehradun by the Congress on Wednesday following the arrival of its State in charge Ambika Soni. The All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary confidently told the mediapersons about the strong chances of Congress being re-elected to office in the coming Vidhan Sabha elections.
On Soni’s arrival at the Congress Bhawan, various party leaders including Cabinet Ministers and Pradesh Congress Committee office bearers welcomed her with bouquets amidst crowds of their supporters. Talking to the media at the Congress Bhawan, the Congress State in charge said that in view of the Vidhan Sabha elections slated to be held in 2017, the party was focusing on preparing its electoral road-map for Uttarakhand. Regarding the disagreements expressed within the party by senior leaders and office-bearers, Soni said that in the democratic organisational structure of the Congress party, one is allowed to hold an opinion but when it comes to the final decision, all are unanimously bound to respect the decision taken by the party’s high command. Responding to queries raised by the media, she said that time-slots had been allocated to hold meetings and discuss all issues concerned with party leaders, office bearers, MlAs including Cabinet Ministers, party ticket contenders for the Assembly election and the party cadre.
The party’s State in charge stressed that views of all the above mentioned will be heard and taken into consideration to keep the Congress organisationally strong and facilitate its re-election to office in the coming Vidhan Sabha elections.
Earlier, Soni was welcomed at the Dehradun airport on her arrival after her flight from Delhi got delayed by some time. Chief Minister Harish Rawat, PCC chief Kishore Upadhyay, Rajya Sabha MP Pradeep Tamta and other party leaders were among those present to receive her at the airport. Behind schedule due to the delayed flight, she arrived at the Congress Bhawan in the afternoon where she addressed the party workers, motivating them for the coming assembly polls.
Her schedule also included meeting with the PCC office bearers, heads of auxiliary organisations, cells and departments of the Congress and the coordination committee later during the day. The party MlAs including the cabinet ministers were slated to interact with Soni over dinner later in the evening.
It should be mentioned here that as parts of efforts considered to me aimed at resolving the recurring disagreements within the party, after her arrival in Dehradun, Soni interacted with party leaders and office-bearers at various levels including the development block, district and State levels to gauge the mood of the party cadre and decide upon the stance to be maintained on various issues.