IMPHAL, January 15: Chief minister O Ibobi and his deputy Gaikhangam left for Delhi in separate flights this afternoon to participate at the crucial All India Congress Committee meeting to be held at the national capital on January 17.
According to sources from Congress Bhavan, the AICC meeting will be presided over by its president Sonia Gandhi and is likely to have maximum participation from the members of the committee. The state has five members in the committee – the two MPs of Lok Sabha, the lone Rajya Sabha MP, chief minister and the MPCC president.
The AICC meet is being attributed great significance as important strategic decisions regarding the Lok Sabha elections, which are likely in April-May, 2014, will be taken there. An announcement highly anticipated during the meeting will be the anointment of Rahul Gandhi as the Congress party prime ministerial candidate. Speculations for the formal declaration of the long-standing demand of both Congress workers and leaders was heightened by a statement from the AICC vice-president during an interview that he is ready to take on any responsibilities handed to him by the party.
The source further added that a meeting of the Congress Working Committee will be convened at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi ahead of the AICC meet. Ibobi and Gaikhangam will be taking part at the CWC meeting too. The modalities for selection of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections will figure prominently on both occasions, another source added. Another main agenda during the meetings will be the biennial elections for 55 seats covering 16 states which have already been fixed on February 7 by the Election Commission of India.
Meanwhile, chief minister Okram Ibobi will extend his stay in Delhi in order to participate at the chief ministers’ meeting later on January 20.