Congress core group to focus on Mission 2019, SP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh when it meets on Tuesday

New Delhi: The Congress core group meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, is likely to discuss, among other things, the Mission 2019 Lok Sabha poll, and the situation arising out of the SP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh where 80 seats are at stake. The meeting is scheduled to be held at the official residence of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, sources said on Monday. The Congress core group consists of party president Rahul Gandhi, former defence minister AK Antony, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, general secretary KC Venugopal, general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Union minister Jairam Ramesh, and others. [caption id=“attachment_5896851” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul. Reuters[/caption] A source said issues related to a possible alliance, poll strategy, and organisational structure will come up for discussion during the meeting. “A discussion will also take place on how to strengthen the party at the booth level, galvanising the party cadres for the Lok Sabha polls, strategy for retaining the edge in the states where the party won recently held Assembly polls,” he said. Sources said the main focus of the meeting would be Uttar Pradesh, where the SP-BSP has ditched the Congress, instead of forging a grand alliance. The two regional parties, which announced the alliance on Saturday, have left two seats for the Congress, at Amethi and Rae Bareli. “For the last four days, senior party leaders have been working out the plan for the Uttar Pradesh battle,” added a source. Congress president Rahul Gandhi has already said that his party would fight with “full force” in Uttar Pradesh to defeat the BJP and its ally, the Apna Dal, which had won 73 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The party’s UP affairs in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad has also spoken about an extensive campaign plan for the state and over a dozen rallies are expected to be addressed by Congress president Rahul Gandhi in February alone.