Congress president forms 17-member panel to discuss post-poll scenario

New Delhi: To discuss the post-poll scenario and other key political issues, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has set up a 17-member group which will meet on October 25.

The meeting will happen after the Maharashtra and Haryana assembly election results are declared on Thursday.

The group would be led by Sonia Gandhi, and top Congress leaders leaders including former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi, Ahmed Patel, Ghulam Nabi Azad, A K Antony, Mallikarjun Kharge, Anand Sharma, Jairam Ramesh, Ambika Soni, Kapil Sibal, K C Venugopal and Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary are part of it.

However, AICC general secretary for East Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is not on the key group, the sources said.

The party will also hold deliberations on the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which is a key issue in Assam after a large number of its citizens have been left out of it.

Some of the young leaders who are also part of the key group includes Randeep Singh Surjewala, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Rajeev Satav and Sushmita Dev. Besides discussing the poll results outcome, the panel would discuss key issues to be taken up in the Winter Session of Parliament starting November 18 and other political issues to take on the Modi government.

The issue of joblessness, economic slowdown and distress sale of public sector undertakings would also be taken up and discussed during the meeting.

The strategies would be discussed to "expose the government's failure" in handling the country's economy, the sources said.