After the debacle in the Punjab and Uttarakhand polls, Congress has become proactive to get its act together in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the Assembly elections amid hopes of emerging a key player in the formation of the next government.

Party chief Sonia Gandhi constituted a 34-member Pradesh Election Committee on Wednesday night under the leadership of PCC chief Salman Khursheed, and All India Congress Committee general secretary Ashok Gehlot said that its first meeting would be held in Lucknow on Friday.

The committee comprises all the top leaders including Union ministers and AICC general secretaries from states.

All the eight zonal incharges of the party in Uttar Pradesh are members of the committee, so are Union Ministers Mahaveer Prasad, Sreeprakash Jaiswal and Akhilesh Das.

AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi and senior leaders Harikesh Bahadur, Mohsina Kidwai and aslo CLP leader Pramod Tiwari are on the committee.

Gehlot said Indian Youth Congress secretary Yogesh Dikshit has been made the working president of the state youth Congress in place of Nadeem Jayasi.

Congress has been a fringe player in UP politics for the last 20 years and is making determined efforts to become relevant in the politically-crucial state with Member of Parliament from Amethi Rahul Gandhi taking personal interest in the task for the past few months.

Party leaders talk of the need to secure a minimum 50 seats in the 403-member Assembly to ensure that the next government would not be able to form without Congress support.