‘If CWC members are announced, there may be internal tussle among state leaders, impacting poll preparations.’
New Delhi
Nine months ago, in October 2022, Malikarjun Kharge was announced as the new president of Congress. Since then, the grand old party has been unable to constitute its much important 35-member decision-making body Congress Working Committee (CWC). Even now, there are mixed signals from the top leaders about whether the body will be formed soon, although there are widespread talks within the Congress that the CWC will be announced very soon. However, many top leaders say that there is not much emphasis being made on the CWC by the party though the list had been finalised a long time ago. An MP close to Kharge said, “It will be announced soon. The CWC is formed so that it can make strategies for elections and win. But Congress is already winning. It won in Karnataka with a huge margin. As per reports and feedback, there is a high possibility that out of four major states, three states (Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan) will be won by the Congress party.”
There is a fear in the minds of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra that if the CWC members are announced, internal tussle may break out among the state leaders (between selected and CWC membership aspirants) which will have a direct impact on the party’s election preparations. Earlier, it was expected that the CWC would be announced after the Karnataka elections.
Moreover, according to other party leaders, the Congress leadership may have started to have grip on the party units in states without the need to announce its top decision-making body. Besides, after taking charge as the new Congress President, Kharge had constituted a 47-member Steering Committee, which replaced the then Congress Working Committee (CWC). The Committee, headed by Kharge, took the place of the apex decision-making body and will continue to do so until a new CWC is formed.
The party had also gone in for an expansion in the highest decision-making body. Top players of the Congress, including Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi were included among the leaders of the newly formed committee. Other members of the panel included Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, P. Chidambaram, Randeep Surjewala, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, A.K. Antony, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Ajay Maken and others.
A section of leaders has suggested that if the Supreme Court absolves Rahul Gandhi from the decision of the High Court on the matter of alleged defamation, then the party may soon announce the list to carry on the momentum. Asked if the party can do without a CWC, a political analyst said, “They have worked quite smoothly in Karnataka elections. They needed a president in the party who can call the shots. And they have one. Then they needed state unit to work properly. They were able to do it where Randeep Singh Surjewala played a very important role in keeping the communication between central leadership and state leadership flowing. Thereby, they can do whatever they want as long as they think it is working for them.”
He added, “And if they think they are winning states without the existence of CWC, why make one. Although, it has been more than eight months and the CWC has not been formed yet. But it is only of an importance if the leadership thinks of it like that. It has been incumbent upon the party chief to form the CWC early and then create strategies for the upcoming elections. But they are doing it without its formation. However, they may announce it soon because the Lok Sabha election is coming next year and they need a body who can decide and plan steps for the party. So, a formal group would be necessary for them.”