Raipur: Contesting the Congress’s presidential election could become tougher if a proposal for amendments to the party’s constitution is passed at the plenary session underway in Raipur, people aware of the matter said on Saturday.
As per the existing rules, a candidate needs to be jointly proposed by 10 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates to run for the president’s post. However, as per a proposed amendment to this rule, a Congress presidential aspirant would need the support of 100 PCC delegates to file nomination papers. In the last presidential election, Shashi Tharoor’s name was proposed by 60 delegates as against 120 for Mallikarjun Kharge, who was largely considered the “official” with the support of the Gandhi family.
Speaking to ThePrint, a party insider said that the proposal of increasing the number of nominators for party president may be keeping in mind a Supreme Court directive that parties must function as per their constitution.
“It will of course be more difficult for a non-establishment candidate to get 100 nominators as opposed to 10. By amending the party constitution it is being institutionalised that one must have that kind of support to consider running the elections, thus excluding many probable candidates in the future,” the Congress leader said.
On the issue of the CPB, the leader said that if CPB members are not a part of CEC, then it “defeats the purpose of the CPB”.
“It would mean that the CPB would just be left with deciding on Parliamentary matters,” the leader added.
Change in composition of parliamentary board
Another proposal in the draft resolution for the Congress’s constitutional amendments, accessed by ThePrint, was a change in the composition of the parliamentary board — a major demand of the group of 23 leaders, popularly called “G-23”, who wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi, calling for organisational reforms.
The Congress Parliamentary Board (CPB) had been shelved by Narasimha Rao in 1992 and was never restored, even though the party constitution provided for it. The board, as per the party constitution, is supposed to regulate and coordinate the party’s parliamentary activities and frame rules.
The CPB is an executive arm of the Congress Working Committee. G-23’s demand for its revival was meant to broad-base the party’s decision-making process. The Central Election Committee, which makes the final selection of candidates in parliamentary and assembly elections and conducts campaigns, should, as per the constitution, consist of parliamentary board members and nine others elected by the All India Congress Committee (AICC). So, the reconstitution of the CPB would mean more members in the CEC. Presently, the Congress president nominates the committee members.
The three-day plenary session of the Congress party began on Friday in Nava Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
Prima facie, the proposed amendment in the party constitution seems to meet the G-23 demands but actually defeats the objective to broad-base the decision-making process. As per the proposed amendment, the CEC shall be set up from among AICC members. The rule providing for the inclusion of parliamentary board members in the CEC is proposed to be deleted.
At present, the party constitution states that the CPB must consist of the Congress president and nine other members, of which one must be the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP).
The proposed amendment states that along with the Congress president, the CPP chairperson and the Congress Prime Minister will become ex-officio members of the CPB, along with five other members who will be chosen from the CWC.
Also among the proposed amendments is one that states that every MP, MLA and MLC from the party should contribute one month’s salary to the party every year. Another amendment in the same section proposes that income tax-paying members of the party must contribute Rs 1,000 to the party fund every year.
A small, but significant change has also been made to an undertaking that all members joining the party must sign. Presently, sub-clause (h) of Article V(B) states that a party member cannot “directly or indirectly, openly or otherwise, adversely criticise the accepted policies and programmes of the party, except through party forums”.
In the proposed amendment to the clause, the term “party forums” has been replaced with “inner party forums”. However, the difference between “party forums” and “inner party forums” has not been made clear.
The last time the Congress constitution was amended was on 7 November 2007. The changes were ratified on 19 December 2010 at the party’s 83rd Plenary Session in Burari.
(Edited by Nisheeth Upadhyay)
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