NEW DELHI: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi asked party leaders from the North East, including Shillong MP Vincent H. Pala, to gear up for the next assembly polls in Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland, besides other states.
Gandhi met Congress leaders, MLAs and MPs to discuss measures to strengthen the party in the northeastern states with special focus on the three poll-bound states.
This is Congress’s first strategy meeting in many days and MPs from Assam were also invited. The party has three members of the Lok Sabha from Assam.
Sources said the Congress vice president stressed on strengthening the party at the grassroots level. The Congress, which had a stronghold in the region, has now been confined to only three small states after losing Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.
Reviving the party at all levels and boosting party cadres’ morale were also discussed.
The party leaders were also asked to take specific responsibilities and allocate time for party work in respective states, besides other states.
Other states that will be on ballot battleground before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls are Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Meghalaya.
Sources said Gandhi hinted at holding more such strategic meetings in the coming days.
While BJP has already started its groundwork for the 2018 polls in Meghalaya, the State Congress had shown laxity in starting work for the elections.
