Congress Working Committee meeting today: (From left) Ashok Gehlot, Rahul Gandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh. (Express Photo/Amit Mehra)
In its meeting on Saturday, the Congress Working Committee will discuss ways to scale up pressure on the government. On the agenda today is Assam’s recently-released draft National Register of Citizens (NRC), the Rafale fighter aircraft deal and the job situation in the country. This is Rahul Gandhi’s second meeting as Congress president since he took over reins of the party in December. UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi was not present at the meeting today.
Leaders in the party remain divided over Assam’s NRC, which was released earlier this week, The Indian Express reported. Some leaders from Assam have expressed that the party should take a strong stance on the issue as illegal immigration is a sensitive topic in the state. Another section, however, feels the party should not dwell on it.
CWC meet today: Leaders in the party remain divided over Assam’s NRC, which was released earlier this week (Express Photo/Amit Mehra)
During the previous CWC meet on July 22, the Congress had laid down its strategy for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The party, which will fight the election under the stewardship of Gandhi, will set up a group to look into forming alliances across the country.
The party also decided on a mass movement to highlight issues including agrarian distress, joblessness, state of the economy, atrocities against Dalits and tribals, attacks on women, foreign policy and worsening internal security and restoration of institutional integrity to take on the BJP-led government.
CWC meet today: This is Rahul Gandhi’s second meeting as Congress president since he took over reins of the party in December. (Express Photo/Amit Mehra)
The members of the new CWC are: Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Motilal Vora, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge, AK Antony, Ahmed Patel, Ambika Soni, Oommen Chandy, Tarun Gogoi, Siddaramaiah, Anand Sharma, Harish Rawat, Kumari Selja, Mukul Wasnik, Avinash Pande, K C Venugopal, Dipak Babaria, Tamradhwaj Sahu, Raghuveer Meena, Gaikhangam and Ashok Gehlot.