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Sonia to review work of her CMs

By Tara Shankar Sahay in Srinagar
May 29, 2003 20:32 IST

The focus of the fifth Congress chief ministers' conference, which will start in Srinagar on Friday, will be governance and programme implementation, according to party leader Ambika Soni.

All chief ministers of the 15 Congress-ruled states will attend the conference, she said on Thursday, adding party chief Sonia Gandhi will review their performance.

Gandhi will deliver the inaugural address and after that the party's manifesto will be discussed, Soni said.

The opening day will have panellists like Dr Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, Shivraj Patil, Veerappa Moily and Janardhan Poojary, she said, adding working committee members looking after states will have an interaction session later.

"More interactive change will continue from the Guwahati and Mount Abu (chief ministers' conferences)," Soni said.

Another party leader indicated that the issue of job reservation for upper castes, initiated by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, is likely to be discussed, though it is not on the agenda.

Dr Singh will speak on economic issues, Vyalar Ravi and Priyaranjan Dasmunshi on employment and education, Mukherjee on communal harmony and law and order and Patil on agriculture and rural development.

Chief ministers of four states have arrived while others will come on Friday, she said.

The party chief will receive delegates from Kashmir on May 31, she said, adding Gandhi has also agreed to meet shikarawallas (Kashmiri boatmen).

Gandhi and J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed will hold a rally in Baramulla district on June 1, she said, adding the Congress chief will distribute appointment letters of jobs to the next of kin of Kashmiris killed in violence.
Tara Shankar Sahay in Srinagar

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