CWC Revamp: Getting Battle Ready
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2023-08-22 16:36:21
About the Author
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
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.
