Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will hold talks with PCC chiefs and CLP leaders from the northeastern states in New Delhi on Monday in a bid to strengthen the party in states ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2014.

This is the second part of such consultations with state leaders, the earlier being held ten days back.

State leaders from the Northeast had not attended those deliberations due to the Assembly polls in Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya.

This is the second such consultation by Gandhi after he was appointed the Vice-President of the party at Congress Chintan Shivir in Jaipur in January.

Gandhi had earlier held freewheeling discussions with the AICC office-bearers about the challenges confronting the party and the way ahead.

The deliberations with state leaders assume significance as Assembly elections in nine states, including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Delhi, are scheduled this year while the Lok Sabha polls are nearly 15 months away.