Reconstituted CWC to conduct maiden meeting in Hyderabad; strategy for assembly, LS polls on agenda

With an aim to formulate a strategy for the upcoming assembly polls in five states and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the newly formed Congress Working Committee (CWC) will conduct its maiden meeting in Hyderabad on Saturday .

The Congress plans to send a message by holding this important conference in the capital city of poll-bound Telangana, that it will use whatever means possible to topple the BRS administration.

Leaders of the party said that the brainstorming of the Congress' senior brass during the conference would be a "game changer" and a "transformative moment" for Telangana politics and the party.

It will be the first CWC meeting after Mallikarjun Kharge took over as the Congress' president in October last year, the senior leader said before leaving Delhi.

Kharge also said that the CWC will meet on Saturday and an extended working committee meeting will be held on Sunday during which discussions about party organisation will take place.

During the meeting, discussions will be held surrounding elections in five states and strategies to be approached, with participation from prominent leaders of the Congress, including Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, he added.

According to Kharge, the meetings will be concentrated on bolstering the organisation, and the meeting of the INDIA bloc would include discussions on alliances.

Announcing the detailed plan for the CWC meeting to be chaired by Kharge, general secretaries K C Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh on Friday said this is for the first time in many years that the party's top decision-making body will hold deliberations for three days outside Delhi.

The CWC will meet at 2:30 pm on Saturday and deliberate on the strategy for the upcoming assembly elections and the Lok Sabha polls.

Talking about the deliberations to be held on Saturday, Venugopal said, "The Congress president will be present. Former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and all other working committee members, including permanent invitees and special invitees, will also participate."

"We have invited 90 people, but six of them have informed us about their inability to attend due to personal difficulties. All other 84 people will attend, including our four chief ministers," he said.

On Sunday, there will be a meeting of the extended CWC to which all state party chiefs and CLP leaders, besides Parliamentary Party office-bearers, Central Election Committee members have been invited to strategize for the upcoming elections.

"We invited 159 people, out of them 147 people are attending the meeting on Sunday," Venugopal said.

On Sunday evening, which is celebrated as Telangana National Integration Day, the party will hold a "mega rally" near Hyderabad where it will announce six guarantees for the Telangana assembly elections, he said.

While the MPs of the party would return to Delhi for the special session of Parliament after the rally, other leaders, CWC members, PCC presidents and CLP leaders will branch out to the various assembly constituencies.

"The charge sheet against the KCR government will come out, our workers will be there in all assembly constituencies. Along with the leaders, they will participate in this programme," Venugopal said.

Kharge had on August 20 reconstituted the CWC, retaining the old guard and giving space to the young in the 84-member body.

The CWC has 39 regular members, 32 permanent invitees and 13 special invitees. These include 15 women and several new faces such as Shashi Tharoor, Sachin Pilot and Gaurav Gogoi who are among the regular members.

(With inputs from PTI)