oppn parties CWC Revamp: Getting Battle Ready

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  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
oppn parties
CWC Revamp: Getting Battle Ready

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2023-08-22 16:36:21

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has reconstituted the party's highest decision making body, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to make it battle ready for the ensuing state polls in crucial states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh as well as the 2024 general elections. After having been credited with deftly handling the internal contradictions in the party post its victories in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh and also not allowing the tiff between Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan to get out of hand, Kharge has now done a fine balancing act to fill the CWC with leaders keeping in mind the various factions in state units. He has brought Sachin Pilot from Rajasthan and Kamleshwar Prasad from MP, among others, to reduce the chances of dissent in the state units. He has also inducted prominent members of the so-called G23 to give a signal that the party is trying to reach out to them. He has also kept the promise made at the Udaipur conclave that 50% of the CWC members will be under 50 although the core CWC has only three below the cutoff age. Other representations, apart from the regional ones, are for women, tribal representatives, OBCs and Dalits. While A K Antony, Digvijaya Singh and P Chaidambaram from the old guard have been retained, young turks Gaurav Gogoi, Alka Lamba and Kanhaiya Kumar have also found place in the CWC.

There is no doubt that after Kharge's elevation and the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Congress party is a more cohesive unit. The internal squabbles on the national stage have all but disappeared. The problems in state units are not unique to the Congress. Even the BJP has them. With the new CWC in place, the Congress will now have to contest the ensuing state elections with renewed vigour. Additionally, it will have to manage the contradictions in the INDIA alliance (given its frequent tiffs with AAP) and ensure that all the other parties consider it as best suited to provide leadership to the alliance. 

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