No crowd, no fun

With the Congress losing a series of assembly elections in the past year, the ruling party seems to have quietly shelved its annual Congress Chief Ministers8217; Conclave, which used to be a forum for the enunciation of the party8217;s policies on different issues. The last event was held in September 2006 in which Congress President Sonia Gandhi had outlined the party8217;s emphasis on agriculture. That conclave in Nainital was attended by 14 chief ministers. Since then, the Congress has lost elections8212;and CMs8212;in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Meghalaya.