News Analysis India

Tag: Congress Working Committee

  • Congress Working Committee meets to discuss organizational polls, political situation 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Congress’ top brass began on Saturday morning deliberations on key issues such as organisational elections, forthcoming assembly polls and the current political situation at the first physical meeting of the party’s working committee since the Covid outbreak.

    Party president Sonia Gandhi, former chief Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress chief ministers Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan, Bhupesh Baghel of Chhattisgarh and Charanjit Channi of Punjab attended the meeting.

    Senior leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma were among those present at the meeting at the AICC headquarters here.

    The meeting of the party’s top decision-making body — Congress Working Committee (CWC) — has been convened after demands from some quarters to discuss important issues, including some defections in the recent past.

    The meeting also comes amid rumblings within the Congress’ state units such as in Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan where the party is in power.

    The G-23 leaders had been demanding to convene the CWC with Kapil Sibal last month and wondered who in the party was taking decisions in the absence of a full-time president.

    He has asserted that the G23 leaders’ grouping is “not a Jee Huzur 23”.

    Former leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad had also written to the Congress president to convene a meeting of the CWC at the earliest.

    During the meeting, the party leadership is likely to decide the schedule to elect the new Congress chief.

    The Congress in its CWC meeting held on January 22 had decided it would have an elected president by June 2021.

    But it was deferred at the May 10 CWC meet because of the COVID-19 situation.

    The latest meeting is being held in the wake of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence on October 3 in which eight people lost their lives.

    The dead included four farmers who were allegedly run over by an SUV belonging to the convoy of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra.

    Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra, who has been named in an FIR, was arrested on Saturday by the Uttar Pradesh Police in connection with the mowing down of the four farmers.

    The incident has given enough ammunition to the Congress party to corner the BJP government and recapture the lost political space.

    The meeting is also likely to discuss key issues such as price rise, farmers’ protests and the economic situation of the country.

    The CWC meeting will also discuss certain dissenting notes rising within the party over the spate of defections and the party’s poor electoral fortunes.

    Sonia Gandhi took over as the interim Congress president in August 2019 after Rahul Gandhi resigned in the wake of the party’s Lok Sabha debacle in May 2019.

    There have been demands from a section of Congress leaders for having a full-time and active party president as well as an organisational overhaul.

    The demand became intense after a storm in the party in August last year over a letter to Sonia Gandhi by a group of 23 leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Bhupinder Hooda, Prithviraj Chavan, Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari and Mukul Wasnik raising these issues.

  • ‘Group of 23’ not ‘Jee Huzur 23’: Kapil Sibal seeks immediate meeting of Congress Working Committee

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: With several Congress leaders quitting the party and its Punjab unit in turmoil, senior party leader Kapil Sibal on Wednesday demanded that an immediate meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) be convened and wondered who in the party was taking decisions in the absence of a full-time president.

    Addressing the media, he said that a senior member of the ‘Group of 23’ has written to Congress President Sonia Gandhi for convening the CWC meeting immediately to discuss the party affairs and the exodus. Sibal said the grouping is “not a Jee Huzur 23” and will continue to put forth the views and will continue to repeat the demands.

    He said the Congress needs to be strengthened as a strong opposition to take on the government and once again reiterated the demands of the group for holding elections to the Congress president, the CWC and the central election committee.

    He expressed anguish over the developments in the party in Punjab and the recent exodus of party leaders, saying all such issues need to be discussed at a party platform.

  • Prashant Kishor’s Congress entry unlikely before assembly elections

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Any decision on poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s induction to the Congress has seemingly been put on hold following reservations by senior party leaders  and feedback that his lateral entry at a senior position can bring discontent in the party ahead of Assembly elections early next year.

    Following meetings with Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, there were reports that Kishor is expected to join in a top opposition to revamp the party. Sources said several senior leaders, including Congress Working Committee members, as part of the feedback process initiated by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, did not give a positive response to Kishor — who runs I-PAC — joining the party. The ‘rebel’ G23 letter writers are also against inducting him.    

    “There was a broad view that he can be roped in as a strategist for the party but giving him top post for election management can lead to rifts in the party. Any decision is now expected after Assembly elections in five states. The Congress chief is yet to express her views on the issue, while Rahul and Priyanka have backed him,” said a senior party leader.

    The party was considering creating a position for him, giving him a free hand in planning election strategy for the Congress. By roping in Kishor, the party was mainly looking for revival ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

    Kishor has worked with several leaders. His association with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee turned out to be a successful one. He had initially worked with BJP in the run-up to 2014 Lok Sabha elections and later joined the Janata Dal-United and was made the party’s vice-president. He  left following differences with top leadership. Kishore also worked with Congress during the 2017 elections in Uttar Pradesh.

    Rahul Gandhi visits vaishno devi shrine

    As BJP started a public outreach programme in J&K, Rahul Gandhi set off for a second trip to the region in as many months. This tour is mostly about temple and mosque hopping. More such trips are in the pipeline. Rahul went to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Katra, participated in the evening aarti and other rituals with a night halt scheduled at the venue. He took short breaks on the way to the shrine to interact with other devotees. “This visit is a part of the party’s plan to reach out to local people. More such visits are planned, where he will interact with leaders and common people,” said a Congress source.

  • Need to take note of serious setbacks in state polls, draw lessons: Sonia Gandhi in CWC meet

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday said the party has to take note of its serious setbacks in assembly polls, and face the reality to draw the right lessons.

    Addressing a crucial meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), Gandhi said she intends to set up a small group to look at every aspect that caused such reverses.

    The meeting of the top Congress body has been convened to deliberate and introspect on the party’s poor performance in the just-concluded assembly elections.

    The Congress fared poorly, drawing a blank in West Bengal and failing to win back power in Kerala and Assam, besides losing Puducherry.

    The party only came to power with the help of its ally DMK in Tamil Nadu.

    “We have to take note of our serious setbacks. To say that we are deeply disappointed is to make an understatement. I intend to set up a small group to look at every aspect that caused such reverses and report back very quickly,” she told the meeting in her inaugural address.

    Gandhi said the party needs to candidly understand “why in Kerala and Assam we failed to dislodge the incumbent governments, and why in West Bengal we drew a complete blank”.

    “These will yield uncomfortable lessons, but if we do not face up to the reality, if we do not look the facts in the face, we will not draw the right lessons,” she noted.

    Gandhi also said that the schedule to elect the new Congress president would also be discussed at the meeting.

    She also hit out at the Modi government over the handling of the pandemic situation.

    “The situation has become even more catastrophic. Governance failures have become even more stark. Scientific advice has been willfully ignored and the country is paying a horrendous price for the Modi government’s neglect of the pandemic, indeed its willful patronage of super-spreader events that were allowed for partisan gains,” she said.

  • Sparks fly in CWC meet over leadership, but party shifts poll calendar to June

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  The Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Friday decided not to hold presidential elections in a hurry, despite the growing dissent among a section of senior leaders over the delay in addressing leadership issues and organisational polls. Election to the post of party president will now be held in June, said AICC general secretary K C Venugopal. 

    According to sources, the decision to delay party polls was taken keeping in mind the upcoming assembly elections. The meeting witnessed heated moments with some leaders questioning the party’s reluctance to hold organisational polls. Several leaders, including those who wrote to interim party chief Sonia Gandhi about leadership vacuum, demanded organisational elections be held immediately but they were told that presidential elections will  happen first. 

    This group senior leaders like included Ghulam Nabi Azad, P Chidamabaram, Anand Sharma and Mukul Wasnik. However, another group comprising Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, and former defence minister A K Antony were of the view that presidential elections should happen after the assembly polls in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry are over. 

    Sources said there were heated exchanges between Azad, Anand Sharma and Gehlot over the demand for organisational elections. Gehlot reportedly said the BJP doesn’t talk about internal elections like in the Congress and that the first priority is to fight the state elections. He also said the all of them are here because of the party to which Anand Sharma responded he has also worked for over 40 years for the party.In May, Sonia will complete two years as interim chief of the Congress after Rahul Gandhi decided to step down following the debacle in Lok Sabha elections in 2019. 

  • CWC likely to deliberate on election of new Congress president on Friday

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Top Congress leaders will deliberate on the way forward to elect the new party chief at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee on Friday, sources said.

    Members of the CWC, the party’s top decision-making body, are expected to discuss and finalise the schedule for organisational elections and the AICC plenary session.

    This follows a report by the Central Election Authority chaired by Madhusudan Mistry making certain recommendations on the election to the Congress president’s post.

    The sources said the virtual CWC meeting will be chaired by party chief Sonia Gandhi, who has asked the leadership to hold organisational polls including for the party president’s post.

    Sonia Gandhi took over as interim Congress president after Rahul Gandhi resigned in the wake of the party’s Lok Sabha debacle in May 2019.

    There have been demands from a section of the Congress leaders for having a full-time and active party president and an organisational overhaul.

    The CWC had in its earlier meeting decided to hold organisational elections, following a storm in the party in August last year over a letter to Sonia Gandhi by a group of 23 leaders including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Bhupinder Hooda, Prithviraj Chavan, Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari and Mukul Wasnik raising these issues.

    Sonia Gandhi had last month met some of these ‘letter-writers’ and discussed the issues raised by them.

    The meeting convened at her residence here was also attended by Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, among others.