No election in Plenary but nomination to CWC, 50% quota for SCs, STs, OBCs, youth, women

The party will also amend the party Constitution to ensure representation of Dalits, tribals, women, youth, OBCs, minorities

There will be no election to the Congress Working Committee during the Plenary Session here while far-reaching amendments to the party Constitution, including reserving 50% of seats in the CWC to Dalits, tribals, women, OBCs and youth, will be placed before delegates for their approval.

The 16 amendments to the party Constitution and 32 to Rules, which will be brought before the delegates for approval, include one for providing permanent seats to former party presidents and former prime ministers, whose immediate beneficiaries will be Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh.

At the over 150-minute meeting, which Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra did not attend, the Steering Committee “unanimously” decided to “authorise” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to “nominate” CWC members. The names for the CWC will not be announced during the Plenary with a senior leader saying it would take at least a month and would be done after consultations.

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The last time elections were held for the positions in CWC was in 1997 during Kolkata Plenary when Sitaram Kesri was party president.

Interestingly, the proposal for having quota in CWC comes even as the Udaipur Declaration at the ‘Chintan Shivir’ in May last year had not included a quota for SCs, STs, OBCs and minorities though a subgroup that prepared a draft for consideration forcefully recommended it.

This as well as the inclusion of former party presidents and former prime ministers in the CWC would lead to an increase in the number from 25 to 35. Sources said even in the reserved seats in the CWC – both in nominated and elected category – half of the members should be below 50 years of age while the number of AICC delegates will be increased from 1,300 to 1500.

Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh explained that the “big reasons” for avoiding the CWC election were the present political circumstances, the party’s role as the main Opposition party as well as the amendment mandating 50% of seats to various groups in the CWC.

“The decision was taken unanimously by the around 45 members who were present…Some were in favour of elections, some were against it. We discussed the impact if we conduct the polls. We discussed what will be the impact if we do not conduct the polls. Our decision came after thorough discussions,” he said adding, “We are fully confident that all AICC and PCC delegates will support this unanimous decision,” he said.

Sources said amendments to the Constitution also include revamping the organisational structure by bringing in a new tier between the mandal and block units, new norms for membership, digital membership and increasing membership fee among others.

On Saturday, Kharge will make his presidential address during which he is expected to present before the 15,000 delegates, including 1,825 AICC delegates, the political plan for the party to fight the BJP. He is also likely to touch upon Opposition unity.

Kharge’s speech will be followed by former party chief Sonia. Three resolutions on political, economic and international will be presented before the delegates for discussion for six hours from 1 pm.

On Sunday, the discussion on resolutions on agriculture, youth and social justice will be presented at 9:30 AM and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi will address the delegates an hour later. The Plenary will conclude with Kharge’s valedictory address at 2 PM, which will be followed by a public rally.

At the rally, Kharge, Rahul and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel will speak.