Representational file picture.
| Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI
The upcoming 85 th plenary session of the Congress, to be held in Raipur between February 24 and 26, will not solely endorse Mallikarjun Kharge’s election as the celebration president however can be anticipated to present a highway map for the celebration’s political revival before the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
From organisational reforms to expressing a willingness to forge electoral alliances, the Raipur session will be watched for the political message it seeks to convey.
Decision on CWC election
On day one, the outgoing Steering Committee, that’s functioning instead of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), will determine whether or not or not there would be election to the celebration’s highest decision-making physique. Apart from the Congress president and Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chief, there are 23 members, out of whom 12 are elected whereas the relaxation are nominated by the celebration chief. However, opinion is split on holding elections at this stage. A part of the celebration leaders argue that since Mr. Kharge has been elected as celebration chief after a keenly fought contest with Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor, he also needs to encourage elections to the CWC.
Also learn | Should there be elections to the Congress Working Committee?
Several others, nevertheless, have argued holding elections might create fissures amongst employees and the celebration can in poor health afford a divided home before subsequent yr’s Lok Sabha election. “When facing an election next year, it is perhaps not the time to experiment. If there were no Lok Sabha polls, I would have favoured elections to the CWC,” Praveen Chakravarty, who heads the Data Analytics Department of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), had instructed The Hindu in an earlier interview.
Another senior chief, who had earlier favoured elections to the CWC, too had modified his view. “The party doesn’t seem to be in the mood to hold another election as that could bring internal divisions to the fore,” he mentioned.
The ultimate resolution on the CWC election, nevertheless, will be taken on February 24 at the assembly of the Steering Committee. The celebration can be getting ready to change the composition of the CWC by amending the celebration structure to embrace former Prime Ministers and former celebration presidents as everlasting members to the CWC. This will robotically make Dr. Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as everlasting members.
Role for the Gandhis
With a non-Gandhi at the helm after a spot of 22 years, the celebration could really feel the want to clearly spell out the roles for the Gandhis. While Ms. Gandhi continues to be chief of the CPP, Mr. Gandhi doesn’t have any formal place. However, after the five-month-long Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY), the Congress has already made Mr. Gandhi the face of its ongoing political marketing campaign Haath Se Haath Jodo Abhiyan (Joining Hands Together). Apart from a chargesheet towards the Narendra Modi authorities, the door-to-door marketing campaign carries a one-page letter from Mr. Gandhi with electoral guarantees.
“I am determined to create economic prosperity for everyone – right price for farmers’ produce, jobs for our youth, fair distribution of the country’s wealth, an enabling environment for MSMEs and entrepreneurs, cheaper diesel, a stronger rupee, and a gas cylinder for ₹500,” Mr. Gandhi mentioned in his open letter to residents.
Post BJY’s profitable completion, celebration cadres at the plenary could lead a refrain to challenge Mr. Gandhi as their prime ministerial contender. But the Congress could have to do a tightrope stroll as any any formal announcement might push away potential allies.
Signal on alliance
With Lok Sabha elections a yr away, the celebration’s articulation on future alliances is actually going to be considered one of the most keenly adopted side of the plenary session. While the celebration can declare to have profitable alliances in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Bihar and Jharkhand, States like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal and Assam are a problem. Together these States account for 84 Lok Sabha seats however the Congress is neither robust nor does it have any alliance with any of the highly effective regional events. And the emergence of Aam Admi Party (AAP) in States like Punjab, Gujarat and Goa has additional eroded the celebration’s help base.
Revival in Hindi heartland
The greatest fear for the grand previous celebration, nevertheless, is its decimation in the Hindi heartland of Uttar Pradesh, the place the celebration managed to win solely two of the 403 Assembly seats regardless of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra operating a high-profile marketing campaign to deal with girls voters. “Revival in U.P. and Bihar is a must for our overall political revival and for that, we must focus on our traditional voters such as forward castes, Dalits and the minorities,” says Kishore Kumar Jhar, a celebration veteran from Bihar.
Udaipur Declaration
The plenary might lastly see a few of the organisational reforms that have been mentioned at the Udaipur conclave. The are ongoing discussions to reserve 50% of the celebration posts to scheduled castes (SC), scheduled tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), girls and minorities in celebration posts and committees. Apart from reservation, the celebration would take a look at implementing its promise of ‘50-under-50’ to guarantee half of its office-bearers are underneath the age of 50.