Be open to tie-ups, party panel tells Congress

June 24, 2008, Accepting the reality that the party cannot rule out alliances if it wants to emerge victorious in elections, a high-level Congress panel has suggested that it be open to the idea of tie-ups in the state elections.
The report of the Antony committee that was set up to suggest an action plan for the party for the coming Assembly and Parliamentary elections has suggested that poll tie-ups should not be ruled out and the party should even be open to forming new alliances, sources said.
It has recommended that the opinion of the state leadership should be sought in forming alliances, they said.
The committee, however, could not form a view on whether the party should project a chief ministerial candidate and the report has kept silent on the issue.
"When elections are fought under an incumbent Chief Minister, naturally he or she is projected as the leader. If we contest elections as an opposition party, so far, we have not declared any one as the chief ministerial candidate," a senior Congress leader said.
The seven-member panel headed by Defence Minister A K Antony, dubbed as the `Re-energising Committee', and formed to suggest ways to ensure that the Congress tastes victory in the coming Assembly and Parliamentary elections, submitted its report to party President Sonia Gandhi [Images] on Saturday last.
The report, which will be taken up for discussion at a CWC meeting to be held next month, constitutes a manual on steps to be taken to re-energise the party in the run-up to the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
Source:www.rediff.com