Chintan Shivir agenda: Cong may revive Parliamentary Board, give call for aligning of anti-BJP forces

Ahead of the brain-storming session beginning May 13, the Congress Working Committee met on Monday and party president Sonia Gandhi delivered a strong message. She said there are “no magic wands” for the party’s revival and told the members that the party has been “good to each and every one of us” and “it is imperative that we step forward and repay our debt to the party in full measure” at this crucial juncture.

In an apparent reference to voices of dissent within the party, Sonia told the leaders that “self-criticism is of course needed” but argued “this should not be done in a manner that erodes self-confidence and morale and an atmosphere of gloom and doom prevails”.

She said the Shivir should not become a mere “ritual”, arguing it “should herald a restructured organisation to meet the many ideological, electoral and managerial tasks we confront”. The CWC heard the initial conclusions of the committees that Sonia had set up to draft resolutions on six themes — political, economic, social justice, farmers, youth and organisational issues.

Sources said one of the suggestions made by the panel headed by Mukul Wasnik on organisational matters is to revive the Parliamentary Board mechanism, a key demand of the G-23 leadership. The mechanism of Parliamentary Board is enshrined in the Congress constitution but has been defunct since the Narasimha Rao days. Another proposal is for enforcing the ‘one family, one ticket’ rule for elections. Of course, the Gandhis will be exempted.

It was decided that the party should take a strong stand to counter the politics of hatred and give a call to other parties to come together to take on the BJP. One major concern, outlined by one of the draft resolutions, is the deepening of the “majoritarian sentiment” overshadowing bread and butter issues like price rise and unemployment. Sources said there will be detailed discussion at the Shivir to address this challenge.

READ: Sonia says chintan shivir should not become a ritual

Two of the panels have given suggestions regarding reservation in the organisation.

The panel on social justice is learnt to have suggested that there should be 50% reservation for SC, ST, OBC and minorities in the organisation, up from the present 20%, while the panel on youth and empowerment proposed capping 50% of the seats for leaders below 50 years of age. It has also demanded significant representation in the party to leaders aged below 45.

Significantly, out of the 422 delegates who will participate in the session, 50% are below 50 years of age, around 35% are below 40, and 21% are women representing different sections of society. In a departure from the past, the entire central leadership of the Youth Congress and the NSUI has been invited to the session.

Sonia was forthright at the CWC meeting in signalling that notes of discord should not emerge from the session. She sought the cooperation of the leaders to ensure that the “single overriding message that goes forth loud and clear from Udaipur is one of unity, cohesion, determination and commitment to our party’s accelerated revival”.

Addressing a press conference after the CWC meet, Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Randeep Surjewala said the aim of the Shivir is to prepare a new action to get the party battle-ready for the 2024 Lok Sabha and upcoming Assembly elections. “It is not a destination, it is the beginning of a long journey. It is a milestone…a transformation of unprecedented magnitude,” Ramesh said.

Surjewala said the aim of the ‘Nav Sankalp Shivir’ is to “rise to the expectations of people after bringing about organisational changes, and come out with a new pledge to save the country”. The CWC approved an amendment in the party constitution to include digital membership and decided that Ladakh will have a separate Congress territorial wing.