Congress leaders discuss party's strategy for assembly polls in Gujarat, HP
New Delhi, Apr 18: Top Congress leaders met at party president Sonia Gandhi's residence on Monday to deliberate on the party's strategy for the assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh slated for later this year.
During the strategy group meeting that lasted over four hours, the leaders discussed threadbare various facets of the party's electoral strategy.
The meeting came days after poll strategist Prashant Kishor gave a detailed presentation before top party leaders at Gandhi's residence.
While Sonia Gandhi attended the strategy group meeting for some time, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi was not present.
Senior Congress leaders K C Venugopal, Ambika Soni, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Mukul Wasnik, Jairam Ramesh, P Chidambaram and Randeep Singh Surjewala were among those present.
Sources said the purpose of the meeting was to plan in advance for the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh later this year and in Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in 2023.
Kishore was not present at today's meeting. However, he met the Congress president separately and left her house late in the evening, the sources said.
The Congress has suffered a string of defeats in recent assembly elections.
Kishor had met the Congress chief on Saturday and made a detailed presentation on the party's revival strategy and the way forward for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Venugopal had indicated about the formation of the group that would discuss Kishor's plan for the upcoming assembly and parliamentary elections and give suggestions and its report to the Congress president for further action.
Sources said Kishor had given this long-term strategy for the Congress' revival before the top party leadership.
With an eye on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he is understood to have told the leadership to focus on 365-370 parliamentary seats alone and strengthen its base in these constituencies.
Kishor has suggested that the party contest alone in a few state assembly elections where it is strong and has remained either on the top or in the second position in previous elections.
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West Bengal Class 12 results declared; overall pass percentage 91.23%
Kolkata (PTI): The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education on Thursday announced the results of its Class 12 examination, which recorded an overall pass percentage of 91.23 per cent.
The results included those of the candidates from the fourth semester under the new system, supplementary candidates of the third semester, and students appearing under the old annual examination pattern.
While the pass percentage among girls stood at 92.47 per cent, boys recorded a pass percentage of 89.71 per cent.
As many as 64 candidates -- including 56 boys and eight girls -- featured in the top 10 list. Adrito Pal of Narendrapur Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya secured the first rank in the state by scoring 496 out of 500 marks.
Jishnu Kundu of Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith Purulia and Ritobrata Nath of Narendrapur Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya secured the second rank with 495 marks each.
Candidates dissatisfied with their fourth-semester results would be allowed to reappear in the examination next year after surrendering the current year's result.
According to official data, a total of 7,10,811 candidates appeared for the higher secondary examination this year.
Of them, 6,35,864 students appeared in the final semester examination under the new system, 59,452 candidates took the supplementary examination for the second semester, and 15,495 students appeared under the old annual examination pattern.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari congratulated all students who have passed the higher secondary examination in a post on X.
"Your hard work, perseverance, and self-confidence have taken the form of success. May the success inspire you to dream even bigger on the path ahead. I wish that your future be bright, that you get success in every field and that you bring glory to your family, society, and state," he wrote on social media.
