The Congress president Mrs. Sonia Gandhi has made a strong pitch for economic reforms saying that encouraging investment was the only way to achieve the country's employment goals. Addressing the party’s Chintan Shivir in Jaipur, she said there were various protest movement across the country relating to land, forest, water livelihood, tribal and gender issues and asked the party to proactively take up these causes. She said the country has to pay greater attention to skilled employment especially in semi-urban and urban areas.

Lying stress on poverty alleviation programmes, she said MGNREGA has demonstrated its utility in rural areas.

Mrs. Gandhi said party's revival in states where the paty is weak should not be compromised at the altar of alliance politics. The Congress President who is also the Chairperson of UPA, made it clear that Congress has to strike a balance between respecting alliances where it has tied up with other parties and ensuring that the party's rejuvenation is not compromised.