After 26 years, there is talk of elections for the working committee in the Congress. Before the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress is going to hold its 85th session in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. It will be decided here whether elections will be held for the working committee or not, know what is the Congress Working Committee and its status.
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Congressmen’s eyes now congress working committee (CWC) rests on. As the date of the Congress General Conference approaches, the discussion has intensified whether after 26 years there will be elections for the Congress Working Committee in the party. Before the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress is going to hold its 85th session in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. It will start on 24 February. Whether there will be elections or not, it will be decided in this general convention. 1250 members of the All India Congress Committee will be included in the convention.
According to media reports, many party leaders are not in favor of the election of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), while some want a change in it. Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram says, I think youth should be included in the CWC. Know what is Congress Working Committee, how it is elected and what does this committee do.
What is Congress Working Committee and its status?
The Congress Working Committee is the highest executive authority in the party. The party has its own rules and constitution, the final decision to implement it is taken by this committee. The Congress constitution says that the CWC consists of the party president, MPs and 23 other members. In this, 12 members are elected by the All India Congress Committee. Others are appointed by the party president.
According to the report of the Indian Express, technically, the CWC has so much power that it can appoint and dismiss the party president. Usually, the CWC is reconstituted after the election of the Congress President. That’s why after Mallikarjun Kharge became the Congress President, now the discussion of elections has started.
Elections were held 26 years ago
In 1992, the AICC session was held in Tirupati. The CWC elections were held in the presence of the then Speaker PV Narasimha Rao. In which it was expected that the candidate of his choice would win, but Arjun Singh, Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot were also elected. Rao resigned from the entire CWC saying that no SC, ST or woman was elected. He then reconstituted the CWC and included Singh and Pawar in the nominated category.
After this, in 1997, re-elections were held for the CWC. In this, Ahmed Patel, Jitendra Prasad, Madhav Rao Scindia, Tariq Anwar, Pranab Mukherjee, RK Dhawan, Arjun Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sharad Pawar and Kotla Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy won. Ever since Sonia became Congress President in April 1998, she has always nominated members of the CWC.
When was the last time there was a change?
Most of the changes in this committee took place when the Congress President was appointed. The last change in the CWC was in March 2018 after Rahul Gandhi became the party president in December 2017. Earlier in September 2010, after the re-appointment of Sonia Gandhi as Congress President, in March 2011, this committee had gone through many changes.
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