Sonia Gandhi asks leaders to coordinate, work on manifesto

Stressing performance of the Congress governments in four states and a Union Territory, party interim chief Sonia Gandhi here on Friday met Chief Ministers, in-charge of states and state party chiefs and asked them to work in coordination.

The meeting at Sonia Gandhi’s residence was attended by Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Puducherry Chief Minister V. Narayamsami, MP party in-charge Deepak Babaria, Rajasthan in-charge Avinash Pandey and Punjab in-charge Asha Kumari.

The one-&-half-hour meeting was also attended by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress general secretaries K.C. Venugopal, Ahmed Patel, Mukul Wasnik and A.K. Antony.

After the meeting, Kamal Nath told reporters, “Sonia Gandhi has asked all leaders in the state to work in coordination.”

Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, who also attended the meeting, said, “Sonia Gandhi asked about progress in implementation of promises that the party made during elections. A detailed discussion was also held on economic slowdown.”

Presenting his views on economy, Manmohan Singh said till the GST was simplified the situation would not improve, Jakhar said.

The Chhattisgarh Chief Minister briefed how the government procured rice from the farmers at Rs 2,500 per quintal and could control the economic slowdown in the state, Jakhar said.

The Congress leader said Amarinder Singh briefed the party chief on the initiatives to provide electricity to industries at Rs 5 par unit, which had helped revive many shut industries.

“Amarinder Singh also stated that about Rs 50,000 crore investment was going on ground in the state,” Jakhar said.

The meeting comes a day after Sonia Gandhi met party general secretaries and other senior leaders. On Thursday, Sonia Gandhi underlined that the party workers and leaders must bot agitate only on social media, but should to hit the ground to be with the people.-IANS news