The celebrations for the 125th anniversary of the Indian National Congress will be held in the city from September 22 to 26, Manas Bhunia, president of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee, announced on Saturday.
Speaking to The Hindu from New Delhi, Mr. Bhunia said he had requested the high command to approve the city as the venue for the Eastern Zonal Conference in the wake of the party completing its 125th year.
“At the direction of party president Sonia Gandhi, the request was accepted at a meeting convened at the Congress headquarters today [Saturday] by K. Keshava Rao, who is a general secretary of the Indian National Congress and in-charge of West Bengal. The meeting was attended by the representatives of the party's State committees in West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands,” Mr. Bhunia added.
He said that both Ms. Gandhi and All-India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi will be attending the celebrations on dates “according to their convenience.”
“The conference will highlight the Congress's struggle against the British regime as well as its effort in nation-building for the last 63 years since Independence,” Mr. Bhunia said.