What to expect from Congress's Plenary session starting Feb 24

Congress is likely to come up with a five-point programme at the ‘Haath se Haath Jodo’ Plenary Session starting here on Friday where around 15,000 delegates brainstorm to give a new direction to the party ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections while asserting its central role in a united Opposition apparatus.

Along with Opposition unity, one of the most anticipated questions is whether there would be an election to the Congress Working Committee. As of now, the indications are that an overwhelming majority of the leaders are against an election and want the Plenary to authorise the president to nominate CWC members.

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The party has already made it clear that it is not going to cede its pole position to any other party and keep the leadership question hanging to be decided in post-poll days. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge has said that an alliance government will come to power in 2024 and Congress will lead it.

The Raipur Plenary is likely to find a way out not to anger other parties while asserting leadership, as some parties are not comfortable with Congress becoming the ‘big brother’.

However, it has not tempered down its anger against parties like Trinamool Congress with Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh told a press conference here that the Mamata Banerjee-led party shows every indication of being soft towards the BJP contrary to his party which has been taking on the Hindutva brigade head on.

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“In a bypoll in Bengal, the Trinamool is systematically trying to get our candidate disqualified…I would like to ask which was the only party in the Opposition that opposed the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe in the Adani Group issue,” he said.

Asked what will be the outcome of the Plenary, Ramesh said one should wait till Sunday to find out the contours of the “five-point programme” that the party will finalise. However, he did not elaborate.

The task before the party will be to make non-BJP parties “comfortable and feel respected”, as top leader Rahul Gandhi put it during Bharat Jodo Yatra, while making it clear that only Congress has the national outlook or a central ideology to take on the BJP. However, Rahul’s attack on Trinamool Congress and its counter-attack on Wednesday has made the task difficult.

Kharge will give his roadmap for the party in his presidential address on Saturday while the political resolution and discussion on it will give a final touch to it.

Apart from a united front against the BJP, the Congress will also look within during the Plenary, which is taking place after the Bharat Jodo Yatra, to overhaul the organisation to make it battle ready and bring more fresh faces to leadership. It will review the implementation of the decisions of the Udaipur Chintan Shivir.

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It is also to be seen whether the party amends its constitution to make former party presidents and former prime ministers get a permanent seat in the CWC.

On the CWC elections, Ramesh said the Steering Committee would decide on Friday morning whether to hold the CWC polls. “The Party Constitution is clear that the Steering Committee decides. If there is a decision to hold the elections, we are ready,” he said.

The argument is that an election would be divisive and could flare up factionalism just before Assembly elections and Lok Sabha polls. All eyes are on whether Shashi Tharoor, who contested against Kharge for the president post, will have a seat in CWC.

While Tharoor has initially ruled himself out of a contest, sources said there could be some drama in the Plenary if there is no signal about Tharoor getting a seat at the high table. Interestingly, Kharge and Tharoor travelled together to Nagaland on Tuesday for an election campaign.

A decision on whether there would be an election to the CWC will be taken at a meeting of the Steering Committee on Friday morning, the first day of the Plenary. The Steering Committee will be followed by a Subjects Committee where the draft resolutions on various subjects are cleared.

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The discussion on resolutions will take place on Saturday and Sunday. The session will conclude on Saturday afternoon followed by a rally at 4 pm.

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi may make a brief speech during the session while Rahul Gandhi is likely to speak on Sunday.

Of the 15,000 delegates, 1,338 are elected while another 487 are co-opted AICC delegates, 9,915 are Pradesh Congress Committee delegates and another 3,000 co-opted PCC delegates. These also include all district presidents, bharat yatris and office bearers of frontal organisations.

The break of the composition of the AICC delegates, which includes 1,338 who have voting rights to choose the Congress Working Committee if an election takes place, showed that 704 are from general category, 228 from minority communities, 381 from Other Backward Classes, Dalits 192 and 133 tribals. Among them, 235 are women and 501 delegates are below the age of 50 years.