Congress 83rd plenary session begins in New Delhi

NEW DELHI - The 83rd plenary session of the Congress party began Saturday here with party president Sonia Gandhi chairing a committee to oversee the political, economic and foreign affairs resolutions.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh attended the meeting along with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister A.K. Antony and party treasurer Motilal Vora at the Parliament House Annexe here.

Gandhi heads the Subjects Committee, the name of the decision-making panel of the party steering committee or the working committee.

The next two days of the three-day plenary session will be held at a sprawling tented township in Burari in northwest Delhi.

The Subject Committee will give final touches to the three major resolutions to be presented and deliberated at the Delhi plenary, party sources said.

It will also finalise the programme of the two-day meet, which will be attended by 1,250 All India Congress Committee (AICC) delegates and around 15,000 other leaders and Congress activists.

The Delhi plenary is being held at a time when the Congress-led government is facing a series of corruption scandals and controversies.

The political resolution at the meet, according to party sources, is expected to declare zero tolerance on corruption.

The resolution is likely to dwell on steps to strengthen the party across the country.

While the political resolution and the statement marking the culmination of 125 years of the party are expected to be moved on Sunday, the economic and foreign affairs resolutions are likely to be moved Monday.

Gandhi will set the tone of the deliberations in her presidential address Sunday morning.

Delhi is hosting the Congress plenary for the first time in 32 years. Indira Gandhi, then in the opposition, presided over the last session in Delhi in 1978.