Pre-poll rejig: Past dissenters in key Congress panel

Sonia Gandhi and her children Rahul and Priyanka are among CWC’s regular member. Pic/PTI

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday reconstituted the party's top decision-making body - CWC - ahead of the upcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Among the 84 members are leaders of the G23 (or the group of dissenters).

The all-important Congress Working Committee has 39 regular members, 32 permanent invitees and 13 special invitees.

Mukul Wasnik, Anand Sharma, Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari and Veerappa Moily were part of the group of 23 dissident leaders who had written to then Congress president Sonia Gandhi and had raised questions on the party's leadership. They are now among the CWC members.

Sachin Pilot, who rebelled against the party's government in Rajasthan in 2020 and was later removed as deputy chief minister, is also among the new CWC members. There are, however, only 15 women in the 84-member body.

The exclusions

Prominent exclusions in the new CWC include ex-MP from Rajasthan Raghuveer Singh Meena, Jai Prakash Aggarwal, Dinesh Gundu Rao, H K Patil, K H Muniappa, P L Punia, Pramod Tiwari and Raghu Sharma. Gundu Rao, Muniappa and Patil have since become ministers in the Karnataka government.

Ahead of crucial polls

The new CWC, which replaces the Steering Committee that was formed as a stop-gap arrangement after Kharge became the party president on October 10, has been announced as the principal opposition party prepares for a crucial round of Assembly polls in the coming months and the 2024 general elections.

The last time the CWC was reconstituted was on September 11, 2020 under Sonia Gandhi's presidency. This is the first Working Committee formed under Kharge's presidency.

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