Congress Working Committee election in Plenary meet?

Will there be elections to the Congress Working Committee during the Plenary Session? This is the question that is on the minds of Congress leaders and workers flocking to the Chhattisgarh capital.

A decision on whether to hold the election will be taken on Friday morning when the Steering Committee headed by party president Mallikarjun Kharge meets.

The overwhelming view in the party is that an election should be avoided at this juncture as it could deepen the divisions in the party, which is headed to crucial Assembly elections in Karnataka, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

A section in the party believes that Kharge has set the tone for the Plenary with his speech in Nagaland during the election campaign earlier this week itself when he said that the Congress is working towards an alliance government in 2024 with the party at its head.

Read | Congress, together with friendly parties, will form govt collectively: Kharge

An election to the CWC, this section argues, would take away the focus from the larger goal to an election in the organisation, which would drain away energy not just during the Plenary but for a longer future for the party.

Asked about the possibility of elections to the CWC, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh told a press conference here on Thursday that the decision will be known by Friday noon after the Steering Committee meets.

He went on to add, the party Constitution makes it clear that the Steering Committee can take decisions on such issues. “If there is a decision on holding elections to the CWC, then we are ready to hold it. Don’t forget that we had held elections to the CWC,” he said.

However, a section of leaders said Ramesh’s assertion as well as Kharge’s pitch for an alliance government led by Congress signals the establishment's plan against elections.

Interestingly, senior leader P Chidambaram had recently voiced the demand for elections to the CWC while Shashi Tharoor, who unsuccessfully contested against Kharge for the post of Congress president, said that he would not want to contest but could do so if the situation demands.

All eyes will be on leaders like Chidambaram and Anand Sharma, who were part of the G-23 leaders, and whether they would raise the demand for an election to the CWC.

In such a scenario, sources said, the leadership would not shy away from holding the election. Top leader Rahul Gandhi too had on earlier occasions favoured contests to the CWC.