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Congress Chintan Shivir: CWC rejects G-23 proposal to revive parliamentary board
The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s highest decision-making body, on Sunday rejected a proposal to revive the party’s parliamentary board.
The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s highest decision-making body, on Sunday rejected a proposal to revive the party’s parliamentary board and even kept in abeyance a suggestion from party leader Rahul Gandhi after it met for the final round of deliberations on key issues during the Chintan Shivir.
Instead of reviving the former structure of the Congress parliamentary board (CPB), an executive arm of the CWC comprising 9-10 leaders, it was decided to form an advisory group from among CWC members which would meet regularly to discuss political matters.
The G23 (a group of leaders who first came together in writing a letter to Sonia Gandhi in 2020 demanding party elections) had demanded the revival of the parliamentary board, which was abolished when PV Narasimha Rao became prime minister in 1991. If revived, the body would include some of the senior leaders and help fulfil the G23’s demand for a collective decision-making process.
“A host of CWC members argued against the CPB, saying there is no urgency to form a new one,” a Congress leader said, requesting anonymity.
Another leader pointed out that since 1913, when the first CPB was formed after the Congress won elections in three presidencies in colonial India, CPBs were a feature only when the Congress was in power.
A G23 leader, however, said their purpose was “fulfilled” with the announcement of an advisory board to assist the Congress chief.
In the meeting, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi pushed for a strict implementation of the “one family, one ticket” policy without any exception. The policy was however, adopted with the rider that another family member seeking to contest elections should have worked in the party for at least five years.
“Rahul Gandhi said the party should have a clear policy and pushed for strict rule. KC Venugopal (AICC general secretary) explained that it is one step forward and the five years’ relaxation was agreed upon by other members of the panel as well,” said a party leader.
In the meeting, senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad raised the security concerns in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, another prominent G23 leader Anand Sharma said: “All of us accept the Udaipur declaration and adopt the proposals.”
Everyone in the party also agreed that the slogan Bharat Jodo — which comes 70 years after Mahatma Gandhi’s Bharat Chhodo or Quit India movement—was of great importance. Congress president Sonia Gandhi expressed her desire to walk in the Kashmir-to-Kanyakumari Bharat Jodo padyatra, starting from October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
It was also discussed that the new CWC that will be constituted after the organisational polls in the party, at least 12 members will be below 50 years of age. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra suggested that the Udaipur declaration should be taken to ground.
