After 35 years Top leaders visit venue,review arrangements After 35 years,Mohali has once again been selected for holding the session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). In 1975,the Congress session held here had lasted for several days but this time,the partys delegate session for the north zone will be a one-day affair. The first of the total five zonal sessions being held to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Congress party,this mini session will be held at Dussehra Ground in Phase VIII here. The second session of south zone will be held in Kerala. Besides the top Congress leadership,comprising president Sonia Gandhi,Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and general secretary Rahul Gandhi,around 6,800 Congress delegates from eight northern states Chandigarh,Punjab,Haryana,Delhi,Himachal Pradesh,Jammu and Kashmir,Uttrakhand and Uttar Pradesh and grass-roots level party workers will attend the conference. AICC general secretary Mohsina Kidwai,who is incharge of party affairs in Punjab,disclosed this while reviewing the arrangements being made for the session here today. Expressing satisfaction over the ongoing arrangements,Kidwai said the venue would be christened as Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar as the session will be held on the eve of Shaheed Bhagat Singhs birth anniversary. She said the session will provide an opportunity to the participant delegates and grassroots level workers to interact directly with the partys top leaders and air their problems and demands. The party high command will take note of the issues raised at the session and will devise ways and means for the immediate redressal. Besides,the party high command will review the working of partys state,district and city units in the northern zone. Local Congress MLA Balbir Sidhu,who was appointed convener for the session,informed Kidwai that a control room has been set up at District Congress Committee office in Industrial Area,Phase I,here,which will ensure coordination between different wings involved in the organization of the entire programme. He apprised that the main programme will be held in the Dussehra Ground,on a side of which an exhibition will be held while towards Sector 69 side,three helipads will be made for the arrival and departure of senior leaders. The food court will be on the rear side of Dussehra Ground. Besides AICC secretaries Ram Chander Khutia and Capt Parveen Dabur,former Punjab Chief Ministers Capt Amarinder Singh,Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and PPCC president Mohinder Singh Kaypee accompanied Kidwai. PPCC chief polls on scheduleRuling out any change in the schedule of election of PPCC president in view of the session,Kidwai said the election will be held on schedule. Filing of nominations will begin from September 12 and election,if required,will be held on September 17. She also ruled out any nepotism or unfair means adopted in the enrollment of delegates in the party. Amarinder justifies oppositionJustifying the opposition raised by him over the selection of Mohali as venue for the Congress session,Amarinder said he had suggested the party high command to hold the session at Chandigarh,which being a capital of two northern states could be a better venue from all aspects. However,the party turned down his opposition and finalized Mohali as the venue.
