Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], April 8 (ANI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday said that the AICC meeting in Ahmedabad will focus on strengthening the party at the grassroots level.

'The Belagavi AICC session declared this year as the year of organisation. The Ahmedabad meet will discuss strengthening the party at the block, taluk and district level,' he said while speaking to reporters.

'Several changes are being brought to the party organisation. The responsibility of growing the organisation is on the party workers. This AICC meet is the prelude to all of us working together. Various aspects of organisational building would be discussed under the leadership of Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. We had a convention of party district presidents in New Delhi last week.'

Asked if the victory March of the Congress party would start from Gujarat, he said, 'Yes, definitely. Joining hands is the beginning, working together is progress.'

Replying to a query on protests by the BJP against price rise, he said, 'I welcome their protest. Their protest will make them understand the public anger against the Union government's decision to increase the prices of LPG, petrol, diesel.'

The 84th National Convention of the AICC is being held in Ahmedabad on April 8-9, marking the event's return to Gujarat after a 64-year gap.

As part of the convention, the CWC meeting was held today, attended by Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Sonia Gandhi, the Chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party. The meeting was attended by other top leaders of the Congress, including the party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi, and KC Venugopal.

At the meeting, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, in a veiled attack on the BJP, stated that attention is being diverted from the basic issues of the country by creating 'communal division.'

Kharge said, 'Today, attention is being diverted from the basic issues of the country by doing Communal Division. On the other hand, Oligarchic Monopoly is on the path of controlling the governance by capturing the resources of the country.'

The Congress President further said that a 'conspiracy' is being carried out in the nation regarding several national heroes, including that of bilateral ties between former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhai Patel. (ANI)