According to state party spokesman, Congress will hold two-day state convention of party at Varanasi to decide the strategy for mission 2012 to capture power in the state.

As per the programme while Rahul Gandhi would participate in brain storming sessions to evolve party’s strategy for next assembly polls his mother Mrs Sonia Gandhi will address public meeting next day on May 19.

All senior leaders from Uttar Pradesh will participate in the state convention and give their frank opinion about the chances of the party in assembly polls.

The choice of Varanasi as the venue for the convention is significant since the Congress wants to keep the focus on Purvanchal for the next Assembly elections.

The two-day convention will focus on the major challenges that the Congress faces in the coming Assembly elections, particularly from the Samajwadi Party which is likely to garner considerable Muslim support. Already Muslim MLA from BSP Fareed Mehfuz kidwai has left party to join hands with SP.

“The organizational weaknesses of the party that often disables the party’s campaign will also be scrutinized. We will invite views and then draw up our strategy,” said a senior UPCC leader.

It would be worth mentioning here that the party’s earlier rally was held in Basti while a recent one was held in Banda in Bundelkhand.

Basti rally was also a grand success as it was addressed by all the six ministers in central government. The ministers who addressed the meeting included Salman Khursheed, Beni Prasad Verma, Jatin Prasad, RPN Singh, Sri Prakash Jaiswal, Pradip Aditya Jain. Bollywood star and Congress MP Raj Babbar also addressed the meeting.

Similarly the recent meeting in Banda which was addressed by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi attracted huge crowd from Bundelkhand region. Young Congress worker Mayank Joshi from Allahabad who attended Banda meting told this correspondent that he had to walk on foot for several kilometers on the road to reach the venue of the public meeting.

Congress spokesman Subodh Srivastav told IPA that after Basti, Banda and now Varanasi, party will hold rallies in Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri and Saharanpur.

Senior Congress leader and former minister Ram Krishan Dwivedi said that he attended few meetings in Hardoi and other places and he was quite impressed by the turn out which gave clear hint that Congress was on revival path and people were fed up with Mayawati led BSP government. (IPA)