NEW DELHI: Irrespective of whether parliamentary elections are held this year or as scheduled in the coming year, the hard reality of their looming closer than before has finally been accepted by the Congress party. Sonia Gandhi convened a meeting yesterday of party general secretaries representing states and asked them to get ready for polls.

She has directed the party leaders to organize the party “everywhere” at all levels for five assembly elections and the coming Lok Sabha polls. “This meeting was about poll preparations. The Lok Sabha elections were also discussed, the party has to get ready for polls and everybody has been asked to draw up programs and submit the same at the next meeting,” the Congress General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi told reporters.

The Congress president has given party men a timetable for building the party at all levels, Veerappa Moily, chairman of the party media cell, said. During the meeting, Sonia also reviewed the progress of programs assigned to senior leaders for implementation.

The issue of Indo-US nuclear deal, which signals a breakup between the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the Left bloc — the external supporters of ruling coalition — ironically did not figure in the meeting of senior Congress leaders.

Suggesting that there was no need for the party leaders to deliberate on the nuclear issue, a senior Congress leader, declining to be named, said: “The issue has already been discussed at two working committee meetings.”

Despite the UPA members having reiterated their support for the nuclear deal, of late, they have repeatedly said that this is not the perfect time for elections. Several Congress leaders, not willing to be named, are also of the opinion that nuclear deal is not an issue to fight elections. With the government facing a “warlike situation” on economic front, it would not be politically wise to decide facing national elections now, a senior party leader said.

Though the party boss has asked the Congress members to gear up for polls, she has not yet decided whether there should be early elections or not.