Chintan Shivir, Congress’ brainstorming session, begins today in Udaipur, Rajasthan’s lake city. The three-day conclave’s main goal is to come up with a solid action plan for the party to move forward.
“At the Chintan Shivir session, the Congress will introspect, contemplate, and reflect on the way forward, as well as new milestones to be crossed,” said the party’s general secretary Randeep Surjewala.
Nearly 500 delegates will be split into 70-person groups to brainstorm on topics such as social justice and empowerment, politics, organisation, economy, farmers, and youth. They will present their reports to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on May 15 after the session.
Sonia Gandhi, the Congress president, will deliver the opening remarks, and Rahul Gandhi will deliver the closing remarks. However, this is not the first time such gatherings have taken place under Sonia Gandhi’s leadership. Since 1998, the party has held three more sessions.
1998, Pachmarhi
Soon after Sonia Gandhi was elected party president, the first Chintan Shivir was held in Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh. Congress faced similar challenges at the time.
Congress did not cede its turf to alliance parties for short-term political gain at the end of the session. The party decided that it didn’t need the alliance to win elections and that it could survive on the charisma of its leaders alone.
Shimla, 2003
Congress realised the value of forming an alliance five years later. They chose to form a coalition of “progressive thinking men and women, institutions, and political movements who share our understanding of India’s past, current concerns, and vision for India’s future to join us in this historic endeavour.”
Congress was able to stay in power for a decade thanks to the Shivir of 2003. MGNREGA, food security, social and economic empowerment, and RTE were all part of the party’s rights-based governance model.
Jaipur, 2013
Prior to the 2014 general elections, the party felt the need for another round of brainstorming sessions. Rahul Gandhi was formally elevated as the party’s vice-president during this session. The party’s youth wing, the National Students’ Union of India and Indian Youth Congress, attended the Shivir for the first time.
The party even devised a strategy for the 2014 general elections, but under the Modi wave, nothing really translated into electoral politics.
