The Congress is likely to convene a meeting of Opposition parties to discuss the economic crisis. It will be the first such meeting, outside Parliament, after their defeat in the Lok Sabha election.
The date has not been fixed, but the Congress has started consultations on the contours.
“It is expected to be held in the last week of this month. Right now, we have had preliminary discussions. The state of economy is in a shambles. The Opposition parties have to come together on the issue of a huge lay-off in the auto sector and the closure of many manufacturing units,” a top Congress leader said.
Last week, at a meeting chaired by Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, the party decided to stage protests nationwide from October 15 to 25 and hold conventions to highlight the “slowdown” from September 20 to 30.
Manmohan to plan
As former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram is in judicial custody in corruption cases, the party is turning to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to formulate its position on the economic issues, sources say. In a recent video statement, Dr. Singh blamed the six-year low in the GDP growth rate on the Narendra Modi government’s “all-round mismanagement”.
The meeting is also likely to address other issues like the calls from the Chief Ministers of some BJP-ruled States and party leaders to prepare a National Register of Citizens in other parts of the country. The Congress has not made its stand clear on the issue. The Left parties last week extending the exercise to other States.
Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee joined a rally recently against the exclusion of 19 lakh people from the NRC in Assam.
