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Congress's Pachmarhi session set to take off amid security phalanx

Amidst tight security arrangements, the three-day brainstorming session of the Congress begins at the hill resort of Pachmarhi in the Satpura mountain ranges of Madhya Pradesh tomorrow.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi will address the inaugural session at 0930 hours. As many as 250 Congress leaders from all over the country are attending the conclave, which is the first to be held after the Narora convention 25 years ago.

Named as 'Vichar Manthan Shibir', the conclave assumes special significance in the emerging political scenario as the camp also aims to chalk out the party's future course of action in organisational, political, economical and foreign policy matters, besides agriculture and rural development.

Congress spokesman Ajit Jogi said after the inaugural session, the participants would divide themselves into five groups to discuss these subjects on which background papers had already been prepared. The members could freely express their views during group discussions, which would be held on September 4 and 5.

Stating that the reports of these five groups would come up before the plenary for discussion, he said final reports on these subjects and party's future strategies would be formulated. After detailed discussions, the conclave would issue the Pachmarhi declaration.

The sub-groups on political, economic affairs, foreign policy matters, organisational and agriculture are headed by Arjun Singh, Dr Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Balram Jakhar respectively.

Naval Kishore Sharma,, the camp's coordination committee chairman, told reporters at Bhopal yesterday that the delegates attending the conference would get adequate opportunity and time to discuss the issues as the sub-groups could sit together even till mid-night of September 4 and 5.

Members of the Congress Working Committee, former Union ministers, presidents of state units, Congress legislative party leaders and former governors are among the invitees. Former Congress presidents P V Narasimha Rao and Sitaram Kesri have also been invited to participate in the session.

Meanwhile, elaborate security arrangements have been made at the hill resort and neighbouring areas as more than 20 invitees figure in the Z or Z plus security category.

Security has also been tightened at Hoshangabad, Itarsi and other railway stations in the district and a strict watch is being kept on any movement towards Pachmarhi. The police has also asked those in possession of licensed arms in the towns around Pachmarhi to deposit them.

The antecedents of some 75 people, who had visited the tourist resort after the announcement about Sonia Gandhi's participation in the programme, have also been verified. Similarly, anyone coming from outside is being subjected to strict scrutiny at various points before being allowed to proceed to Pachmarhi.

Police sources in the district headquarters of Hoshangabad said around 4,000 police personnel were being deployed at Pachmarhi for the duration of the camp. The Special Protection Group have also reviewed the security arrangements.

The Congress president, who arrived in Bhopal late this evening by a special plane, after a night halt at Raj Bhavan will reach Pachmarhi by helicopter tomorrow morning.

UNI

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