New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has convened a high-level meeting with key leaders from eight crucial states to sharpen the party’s organisational edge and craft aggressive strategies on two burning national issues: the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) and the implications of the recently announced India-US trade deal for Indian farmers.
The closed-door session is set for February 10 at 10 am at the AICC headquarters in Indira Bhawan, New Delhi. It will bring together state in-charges, state presidents, legislative party leaders, and district Congress committee presidents from Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu.
Congress parliamentary leader Rahul Gandhi and organization general secretary K C Venugopal will join the deliberations and dive deep into both political and organisational matters. The focus will be on accelerating grassroots organisation-building campaigns while formulating a unified response to safeguard rural livelihoods.
Top of the agenda is MNREGA, the flagship rural jobs scheme, amid ongoing Congress allegations that the Centre is diluting or undermining its core guarantees through alternative programmes. The party aims to build momentum around protecting workers’ rights to employment.
Equally critical is the India-US trade framework, which the Opposition claims favours American agricultural imports and threatens Indian farmers by opening markets for subsidised foreign produce. Congressmen have repeatedly criticised the deal’s secrecy and potential compromises under external pressure, vowing to expose its adverse effects on domestic agriculture and rally public opinion against it.
This strategic huddle comes at a time when the Congress is intensifying its attacks on the Modi government over rural distress, foreign policy decisions, and economic policies perceived as anti-farmer. The outcomes could set the tone for intensified campaigns, protests, and parliamentary confrontations in the coming months, as the party seeks to regain ground in these key states.