New Delhi: Senior Congress leaders in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday huddled up for dinner at the official residence of the party's state unit president Kamal Nath here to discuss the strategy for the state Assembly elections to be held towards the end of 2023.
Besides Nath, former chief minister Digvijaya Singh, former union ministers Kantilal Bhuria, Suresh Pachori and Arun Yadav and former leader of opposition Ajay Singh were present for the dinner meet, sources said.
The intention was to discuss the party's strategy for the next year's assembly polls, they said.
Nath briefed the Congress leaders about his and Digvijaya Singh's recent meeting with party president Sonia Gandhi and also shared its plan to rope in the services of poll strategist Prashant Kishore, they said.
Nath told the attendees that Sonia Gandhi has asked the party workers and leaders to raise their voice against the Centre to register protest on issues like inflation and fuel price hike, to counter the "divisive politics" of the BJP, the sources said.
The former chief minister also shared the survey reports about the sitting Congress MLAs, including former ministers, and told them to take corrective steps by mingling with the public.
"Nearly 25-30 Congress MLAs are in the red (danger) zone," the sources said, adding that even Nath had told them individually about their situation.
After remaining out of power in Madhya Pradesh since 2003, Congress had formed the government in 2018 with Nath being appointed as the chief minister.
However, 15 months later, the Congress government collapsed following a revolt by the then party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, who along with his supporter MLAs, including six ministers, resigned from the Congress and joined the BJP and paving the way for the return of the saffron rule again in the state.