The first Congress Working Committee meeting under party president Mallikarjun Kharge will take place on Saturday in Hyderabad where top party leaders will discuss their strategy for the upcoming assembly elections in five states. Ahead of the meeting, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said that an extended working committee meeting will also take place on Sunday.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting, Kharge said that senior Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi will attend the meeting.

“This is the first CWC meeting after I took charge as the party president. An extended working committee meeting will also take place tomorrow where discussions related to the party will be done. Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and all senior leaders will be present in the meeting and have discussions regarding the upcoming elections in 5 states and plan accordingly,” Kharge said.

Earlier on the eve of the meeting, Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal informed press that a total of 90 leaders have been invited to attend the meeting but only 84 have confirmed their presence.

“We will hold the first CWC (Congress Working Committee meeting) in Hyderabad in which the preparations for the upcoming elections will be discussed. We have invited 90 people, out of which 84 people will attend,” he said.

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Interestingly, an extended CWC meeting will be held on Septmeber 17, the same day when government has called an all party meeting to discuss the business of the Parliament’s special session. It is not yet clear whether Congress will be part of the all-party meeting.

“We invited 159 people and 149 people will attend the extended CWC meeting on September 17. We will organise a ‘Vijayaberi public meeting ‘ on the same day. On September 18, our leaders apart from MPs will go to all Assembly constituencies,” Venugopal added.

Ahead of the meeting, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has reportedly said that a discussion on the actual election prospects but also highlighted the need to be prepared in case the government decides early elections.

“Inevitably one of the key topics is going to be current political developments in the country and the actual election prospects and certainly those who have been representing us in the India Alliance meetings, we want to brief the committee about what’s happening there…We hope that the elections are in the usual time which is six to nine months away. But it’s also possible that the government might advance the elections as we’ve been hearing and we need to be prepared sooner rather than later,” the Congress leader said, according to an English daily.