Congress strategises on key issues ahead of PM's meeting with party chiefs

New Delhi: A meeting of the Congress top brass, including Sonia Gandhi and party chief Rahul Gandhi, was held here to decide the strategy on key matters such as Lok Sabha speaker's election and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to discuss the 'one nation, one election' issue.

Sources said the meeting, chaired by Congress Parliamentary Party leader Sonia Gandhi and attended by Rahul Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh, discussed the strategy to be adopted by the party during the meeting called by the prime minister.

Senior Congress leaders A K Antony, P Chidambaram, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Jairam Ramesh, K Suresh, and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, were among those present at the meeting held at Sonia Gandhi's residence 10, Janpath. Modi has invited heads of all parties who have an MP either in Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha for a meeting on Wednesday.

The meeting has been called to discuss the "one nation, one election" issue, celebration of the 75 years of Independence in 2022 and 150 years of Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary this year. It will be followed by a dinner-meeting with all MPs on June 20.

The strategy for the dinner-meeting was also discussed at the Congress meeting, sources said. In a new development, the Congress and other UPA allies have decided to support the BJP candidate Om Birla for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker, party leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said on Tuesday but remained silent on the issue of Deputy Speaker. Birla, a BJP MP from Kota-Bundi seat in Rajasthan, is all set to be elected unopposed on Wednesday when the motion seeking his election is moved in Lok Sabha.

Chowdhury said the Congress has already moved a motion supporting the ruling party candidate for the post of Speaker of Lok Sabha.

The decision was taken a meeting of the UPA allies in Parliament on Tuesday evening, where the leaders also discussed the opposition strategy during the Parliament session. The Congress and other opposition parties, have however, not decided on the strategy for the post of deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha and are adopting a "wait and watch" policy. Leaders of Congress and other UPA allies said they would await the government's next move on the appointment of the deputy speaker, a post that traditionally goes to the opposition.

So far, the government has not given any indication on the post and the opposition is waiting its move on the issue.

They said a decision on the issue of Congress's leader in Lok Sabha will be taken soon by Sonia Gandhi.

On Prime Minister Modi's appeal to the Opposition that it should not worry about numbers, Chowdhury said: "That is the core essence of democracy. Democracy is not determined only by numbers, it is determined by opinion, discussions and dialogue." If the statements of the prime minister are conveyed to his juniors or his partymen then it will be beneficial for all, Chowdhury said.