The general opinion at Shimla in 2003 was unity of secular forces as Congress was getting ready for the first experiement of sharing power at the Centre after 8 years in the opposition.
In 2013 too, the emphasis is on alliances as party leaders are talking of formation of a UPA-III and AICC is in search of new friends and allies to retain power.
AICC has already given indications that it was going into the alliance mode by setting up a high-level sub committe under senior leader A K Antony to go into the issue of Emerging Political Challenges at the Shivir.
According to a CWC member, the exercise is significant as it is taking place at a time when there were two strains of thought in the party on when to go for polls with a section favouring snap elections by yearend after coming out with a populist budget.
This section insists that the Lok Sabha polls, along with assembly polls of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Rajasthan, would find opposition BJP in a bind.
Sources said the sub-group headed by Antony has decided to focus the discussion on four points---major strategic challenges before 2014 elections, coalition in states, connecting with middle classes and greater synchronisation between the functioning and ideas of the government. (MORE)