The National Alliance Committee (NAC) of the Congress, which started its two-day meeting with State units on December 29 on the issue of alliances for the Lok Sabha polls, will submit a report to the party president in the next two days.
Conveying a sense of urgency, the party has planned a series of meetings for the next week, including the first meeting of the Manifesto Committee on January 4.
On December 19, the Congress formed the five-member NAC, with Mukul Wasnik as convenor and veteran leaders Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel, Salman Khurshid, and Mohan Prakash as members.
While the Congress leadership, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, have briefed State units on the issue of alliances, the NAC is supposed to get into details such as the number of seats that the Congress could seek or offer to allies, the exact seats that the party wants to contest and so on.
“The NAC will give their recommendations to the Congress president and it will broadly contain what should be the negotiating points with our allies. By January 2 or 3, some people will be empowered to talk to the allies,” a senior leader said.
The issue of alliances would be crucial in States like Punjab, Delhi, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala and Maharashtra. After its rout in the Hindi heartland of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, regional parties who are part of the INDIA bloc are not keen on offering the Congress a large chunk of seats. Similarly, the Congress unit in Punjab is not keen on an alliance with the Aam Admi Party (AAP).
“This is a national alliance and a national decision will be taken. State units may have a viewpoint but for a national alliance, national factors takes precedence over state concern,“ said the leader quoted above.
Yatra plans
On January 4, Mr. Kharge will also preside over a meeting with Congress chiefs and legislative party leaders from the States to discuss the Lok Sabha preparedness as well as the specific route for the Bharat Nyay Yatra. While the logo and tagline of the Nyay Yatra will be unveiled on that day, the detailed route of the yatra will be announced on January 8 and the theme song will be released on January 12.
The source said the yatris will cover around 120 kilometres a day, including around five to seven kilometres on foot. A number of public meetings and interactive sessions with locals and marginalised groups have been planned during the yatra.
The yatra, led by Mr. Gandhi, will start from Manipur in the east on January 14 and conclude in Mumbai in western India in March. It will cover 14 States and 85 districts.
