Naya Raipur: Preparation for assembly polls in Karnataka and other states later this year, non-representation of smaller states, and the redundancy of holding elections to the party’s top decision-making body when no elections were held at lower levels — these were the three broad reasons Congress leaders cited at the Steering Committee meet to oppose elections to the Congress Working Committee (CWC).
The first two reasons were cited by Pramod Tiwari, and the third by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at the meet held here Friday.
Congress leaders privy to the deliberations told ThePrint that Digvijaya Singh and Ajay Maken were batting for CWC elections, along with Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
Name one year when no assembly elections will be held and there will be no small states, Singh and Maken contended. “But if you still don’t want to hold elections, change the Congress party’s constitution,” a member of the Steering Committee quoted Maken as saying.
Another steering committee member said, “Gehlot saheb‘s argument was interesting. What is this argument that we shouldn’t have elections in the top body because we didn’t have it ‘in neeche ka‘ (lower) body? This argument actually puts a question mark on Mallikarjun Kharge’s election, which the party has been beating drums about. You are actually suggesting that nominated members elected the Congress president!”
A third member of the steering committee had an interesting take on why elections to the CWC should not be held: “If the BJP doesn’t have it, why should we have it?”
According to the Congress party’s constitution, the CWC consists of the party president, its leader in Parliament and 23 others, 12 of whom are elected while the remaining 11 are nominated.
However, Sonia Gandhi has been nominating all CWC members since she took the reins of the party in 1998. CWC elections were last held in 1997 when Sitaram Kesri was the party president.
Curiously, all three Gandhis — Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka — were absent from the Steering Committee meeting where a decision was made against holding elections to the CWC.
Two members of the so-called G-23, Anand Sharma and Mukul Wasnik, too opposed the elections, ThePrint has learnt. Both were signatories to the 2020 letter in which 23 Congress leaders had written to then party president Sonia Gandhi, recommending a series of measures to revive the party, including elections to the CWC.
Former Union finance minister P. Chidambaram, who is a known advocate for CWC elections, chose not to speak at the steering committee meeting Friday.
Congress sources say the decision to authorise party president Mallikarjun Kharge to nominate members to the party’s top decision-making body is meant to ensure the induction of Gandhi family loyalists to the CWC. In other words, leaders who can’t win elections.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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