Party has been good to each one, its time to repay: Sonia message to CWC

New Delhi, May 9 (IANS) Ahead of its Chintan Shivir, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi told the Congress Working Committee meeting on Monday that there is no "magic wand" and only "selfless work" will revive the party.

"There is no magic wand. It is only selfless work, discipline and a sense of consistent collective purpose that will enable us to demonstrate our tenacity and resilience."

She also gave a strict message on speaking to the media. "The party has been good to each and every one of us. Now is the time to repay that debt in full measure. Self-criticism is of course needed in our party forums. But this should not be done in a manner that self-confidence and morale is eroded and an atmosphere of gloom and doom becomes all-pervasive."

She said that in Udaipur on May 13, 14 and 15 around 400 Congress leaders will participate in the Chintan Shivir.

"The vast majority of them hold or have held one position or the other in the organization or in the Union government. We have made every effort to ensure balanced representation and "balance from every angle," she said.

She highlighted the outline of the session -- the deliberations will be in six groups and will take up political, economic, social justice, farmers, youth and organizational issues. Delegates have already been informed about which group they will be expected to participate in.

"On the afternoon of May 15 we will be adopting the Udaipur Nav Sankalp after it has been approved by the CWC there," she said.

Gandhi sought full cooperation in ensuring that the single over-riding message of unity, cohesion, determination and commitment to the party's accelerated revival goes forth loud and clear from Udaipur.

She cautioned that the Chintan Shivir should not become a ritual that has to be gone through.

"I am determined that it should herald a restructured organization to meet the many ideological, electoral and managerial challenges we confront.

"I had set up coordination panels to set out the broad agenda for each of the six groups. These panels have met. I will now request the convenors of these panels to brief us on the broad subjects that have been identified for discussion within each of the groups," she added.