Eye on 2014, Congress chintan shivir starts from today

Jaipur: Congress will set out on a unique exercise on Friday seeking to blend youth and experience to evolve a winning formula for the Lok Sabha elections just 16 months away.
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.
Consensus on various issues will form part of the draft ‘Jaipur Declaration’ which will be adopted by the AICC meeting having 1000 odd delegates on Sunday. It will also form the future course of action to face the electoral challenge.
The year will witness Assembly elections in nine states including some states like Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh where BJP is in power for the last decade. The Congress conclave could be a repeat of its Shimla meet nine years ago on the issue of political alliances with the party deciding against going it alone in the next Lok Sabha elections.
The Prime Minister and Rahul Gandhi will address the AICC meeting and they along with the Congress Chief would be participating in different sub groups for a brief period.
The sub-group on emerging political challenges headed by A K Antony has decided to focus the discussion on four points —major strategic challenges before 2014 elections, coalition in states, connecting with middle classes and greater synchronisation between the functioning and ideas of the government.
In 2013 too, the emphasis is on alliances as party leaders are talking of formation of a UPA-III and AICC is in search of new friends and allies to retain power.
AICC has already given indications that it was going into an alliance mode. Congress is aiming at formation of UPA-III with realignment of secular forces and “some kind of inside or outside support” from Left parties and JD-U.
Congress has lost its sixth Assembly elections in Gujarat in a row. It is the latest addition to a list of states where the party has not been in power for about two decades or more. The issue is expected to dominate the party’s brainstorming session, party leaders say.
Party leaders have been claiming that while the party will retain its old allies and friends, it is “not averse” to new alliances in states as per the need and local demand.
At the brainstorming session, a major concern for Congress is the rise of regional parties. The country has seen the emergence of regional leaders like Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu, Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh, Nitish Kumar in Bihar and Naveen Patnaik in Odisha.
The immediate concern for Congress is the rise of Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh, the only major state where Congress is in power on its own. The separate Telangana issue has made the situation more complex for the party in Andhra Pradesh.
The southern state is strategically important for Congress given the fact that spectacular victory in Andhra Pradesh in the 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha polls had been the gamechanger for UPA.
There will be discussion on five topics in Jaipur, the most keenly watched to be those on emerging political challenges and organisational strength. The other topics for discussion are emerging socio-economic challenges, India and the world and empowerment of women.