Mumbai party chief pitches for austerity, takes a leaf from the BJP meet in Indore.
The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) may be its biggest rival in the arena, but the Congress won’t mind some inspiration from the right-wing outfit. In December, Mumbai will host the grand finale of the Congress’ year-long celebrations of completing 125 years. And Mumbai Congress chief Kripashankar Singh has suggested to the party high command to allow him to host the delegates in tents to show some austerity in the festivity.
BJP had used tents to house its top leaders in Indore during its National Council and Executive Meet in February. Nitin Gadkari, the newly-elected BJP president, had opted for tented accommodation when the party was about to launch an attack on the Congress over the rise in prices. Accordingly, the organisers had put up 1,300 tents, including 25 for the party brass where all leaders stayed expect Arun Jaitley. All the tents were of course fitted with air-conditioners and dressing tables, and had tiled Western toilets.
In his suggestions to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Singh has said that he has identified land at the Bandra-Kurla complex in Mumbai to put up the tents. He has also said that he will keep the delegates from each state in a different tent and will ply them with cuisine from their state.
These plans, however, will require the nod of the Special Protection Group (SPG) as three important people it protects – Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and General Secretary Rahul Gandhi – will have to live in these tents. If SPG objects, then at least the state-level delegates can live in tents, Singh has suggested in his letter to Gandhi.
Before they check into the tents, the leaders will go to five different locations to attend special regional sessions of the All India Congress Committee. Kerala, Punjab, Assam, West Bengal and Rajasthan have been selected to host these special sessions. While Assam and Rajasthan are Congress-ruled states, the Left-ruled Kerala and West Bengal are going to polls next year. The Congress is expected to deliver its political message ahead of the elections to these states through the sessions.
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Kerala Congress chief Ramesh Chennithala has said his unit will host the conference in the state during the third week of October. He has also assured the party leadership that at least 5,000 delegates will come from states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa for the conference.
The Congress has set up a 19-member organising committee headed by Sonia Gandhi to celebrate its 125 years. Founded by A O Hume in 1885, the Congress will reach the landmark in December. As Mumbai hosted the first AICC session, the party has planned to host the concluding ceremony and the plenary session of AICC at Mumbai this year.