Patna: The Congress, struggling to regain its lost ground in Bihar since its collapse in the 1990s, is set to make a major show of strength with its Working Committee meeting in Patna on September 24. The event will see the participation of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, and several senior leaders, including the chief ministers of Telangana and Karnataka.
The historic meeting will be held at Sadakat Ashram, the party’s Bihar headquarters, with elaborate arrangements underway. State president Rajesh Ram, legislative party leader Shakeel Ahmed Khan, and legislative council party leader Madan Mohan Jha inspected preparations on Sunday. A German hangar is being constructed on the Ashram grounds, while Congress-related landmarks and statues across Patna are being painted.
The party has booked 175 hotel rooms in the city for delegates. Organisers said the choice of Patna, ahead of the assembly polls, was deliberate—a bid to project the party’s renewed energy in the state following Rahul Gandhi’s Voter Adhikar Yatra.
Congress has been out of power in Bihar for over three decades and has seen its base erode to near collapse, surviving mainly through its alliance with Lalu Prasad’s RJD. But the party hopes to capitalise on the momentum generated by Rahul’s yatra, which senior leaders claim has “re-energised” workers on the ground.
“This is not just a meeting,” a senior functionary said, “it is about reclaiming space for Congress in Bihar and showing that we are still a force to reckon with.”
