With the Karnataka Assembly elections over, all eyes are now set on the reshuffling of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s top decision making body, which has been pending for long under party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and start preparing for the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
At the party’s three-day plenary session held in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur in February this year, the Steering Committee unanimously decided to authorise party president Mallikarjun Kharge to nominate all members of the working committee (CWC) and thus election was not required for the party’s top decision making body.
The party during the Plenary Session has also decided to provide 50 per cent reservation for SC, ST, OBC, minorities, women, and youth below the age of 50 years in the CWC and also expanded the number of members of the highest decision making body to 35.
A party source related to the development said that the reshuffle is taking time because as per the new amendments in the party’s constitution, selections from the grassroots of the party to the party’s highest decision making body need to be completed.
“The 50 per cent reservation formula, caste representation and regional representation needs to be looked before the reshuffle in the CWC,” the source added.
The source said that the reshuffle is likely to be completed within the next one month.
He said that the names for several posts in the CWC have also been shortlisted and the final call will be taken by Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, after his return from his US tour.
The source said that the party will project general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in a bigger role ahead of the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
He said that Priyanka Gandhi has for the first time campaigned extensively in Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Punjab, Assam in the last two years.
“So after the success in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, she will be given the task to campaign extensively in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Chhattisgarh. She will also be widely campaigning for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” the source added.
Priyanka Gandhi has already held one public meeting in Telangana last month and she will hold her first public meeting in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur on June 12.
Besides the CWC expansion, the Congress is also focusing on a rejig in several state units and also preparing for the assembly polls in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Telangana.
Another party source said that the results of Himachal Pradesh last year in December and in assembly polls in Karnataka in April this year have raised the hopes for the grand old party. “Thus keeping in mind to keep the momentum going for good results in other poll bound states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Chhattisgarh, the party has been preparing a roadmap for the same,” the source said.
The source said that beside the poll bound states, the Congress is also preparing to change the state unit chiefs and in-charges of several states to give a boost to the party leadership ahead of the major battle in 2024.
The source said that states such as Tamil Nadu, Delhi, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Jharkhand will soon have new state presidents.
States like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Odisha, Puducherry, Bihar and Jharkhand will also have new state in-charges.
According to the party sources, Rajasthan might also get a new state unit chief soon as the party has been facing a political crisis since June 2020 due to the open feud between chief minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot.
(Anand Singh can be contacted at anand.s@ians.in)
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