New Delhi, Jan 29 : A meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision making body of Congress, began at 10:30 a. m. at the residence of party Chief Sonia Gandhi.

The committee will discuss strengthening of alliances, finalisation of the manifesto and preparing a strategy to succeed in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not participate in the meeting for the first time in the recent past, as he is on rest following the coronary by-pass surgery.

The coming elections will have competition amongst the Congress led- UPA, Bhartiya Janata Party led -NDA and the left parties which are trying to bring another alternative of several regional parties like the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

Gandhi has already named Manmohan Singh as the prime ministerial candidate of the UPA and has also stated that the Congress will fight the elections as a part of a coalition.

The Congress Working Committee is also likely to decide upon the demands made by several UPA allies like the Samajwadi party and Rashtriya Janata Dal to share seats in states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar.

In order to achieve power at the centre, the party will majorly concentrate on four states -Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and West Bengal, which will send 212 members to the Lok Sabha.

The other states where the Congress will try to enter in an alliance with the regional parties are Jharkhand, Tamilnadu and Jammu and Kashmir.

The meeting is also likely to discuss the seat sharing in these states. (ANI)