Congress’ two-day Chintan Shivir begins in Jaipur today

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi: Ruling Congress` two-day high-level strategy meet begins in Jaipur on Friday with the main focus remaining on the fast-approaching Lok Sabha elections that are due in 2014. The two-day Chintan Shivir will see party top brass discussing political challenges being faced by the Congress. With Rahul Gandhi put in charge of the 2014 poll campaign, Congress is also expected to evolve a strategy to blend youth and experience to evolve a winning formula for the Lok Sabha elections just 16 months away. The significance of the two-day Chintan Shivir and the AICC meeting that will follow on Sunday is in view of the fact that a section of the Congress is favouring early Lok Sabha elections to coincide with Assembly polls in five states by end of the year. Narendra Modi is expected to emerge as a major talking point with his electoral hattrick in Gujarat with a CWC member saying that a discussion on current political situation cannot take place without direct or indirect mention of the controversial BJP leader. Party chief Sonia Gandhi along with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will utilise the meet here to reach out to the middle class as also to evolve approaches that could appeal to the youth as the voter profile is increasingly turning young. Incidentally, Congress under Rajiv Gandhi had brought down the voting age from 21 to 18. Youth will be the flavour of the season at Jaipur with Congress having invited as many as 160 odd young delegates who have been office bearers of the Indian Youth Congress and the NSUI. This is for the first time, that such a high representation is being given to youth at such meets. Party leaders are also banking heavily on government`s recent initiative on Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to ensure that subsidies under various central schemes reach in form of cash directly to the accounts of beneficiaries. Rahul Gandhi, who has involved Youth Congress leaders in a big way for implementation of DBT, had told them that if this programme was pushed properly, Congress can win not only this but even the next elections. With PTI inputs