CWC meet on August 20

The first meeting of the revamped Congress Working Committee (CWC) would take place on August 20, Rajiv Gandhi's 60th birthday, said party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi.

On August 21, the party would hold a meeting of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC), the first since the party's electoral victory, Dwivedi said. The AICC session would be held at the Talkatora Stadium here, he added.

The agenda of the CWC and the AICC is yet to be worked out but the revamp Congress chief Sonia Gandhi wants to bring about in the state party units and front organisations may take place before the CWC meeting.

The CWC and the AICC will be the final stamp on all the decisions that have been taken till now""of appointing Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister and the setting up of the council of ministers.

The meeting is expected to give a shot in the arm to the moribund Congress unit in Maharashtra ahead of the Assembly elections and assess the Congress chances in Uttar Pradesh where the unit is headed by Jagdambika Pal, a man who is widely perceived to be more friendly to Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav than to several Congressmen.