Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi will hold consultations for the party's manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, with the plans already firmed up for the interactions to be held in Guwahati and Ranchi.
According to Congress sources, during the course of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra which will start from Imphal on January 14, national consultations will be held to seek from the civil society organisations and different sections of the society their inputs for the party's manifesto for the general elections.
The first such consultation will be held in Guwahati around January 23. A second consultation has been planned in Ranchi around February six. As per sources, the focus of the interaction in Guwahati would be to seek views on issues pertaining to the northeastern region. The aim of the meeting in Ranchi would be to focus on issues closer home to the tribal community.
The members of the national manifesto committee will be present in these meetings. A 16-member manifesto committee was announced on December 22. It is headed by veteran Congress leader P. Chidambaram, and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister T.S. Singh Deo is the convener of the panel.
The panel is learnt to have already decided to hold meetings with representatives of civil society organisations who had met Rahul during his Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra.
During the course of the upcoming yatra, Rahul, as was the case during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, will hold interactions with civil society members everyday. However, due to logistical issues, since the yatra will be on a bus, the meetings will be held with more compact groups.
