Reconstituted CWC to hold first meeting in Hyd; strategy for assembly, LS polls on agenda

HYDERABAD: The first meeting of the reconstituted Congress Working Committee (CWC) will be held here on Saturday to evolve a strategy for the upcoming assembly polls in five states and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Holding the crucial meeting in the Telangana capital, the Congress is also looking to send out a message that it will go all-out to dislodge the BRS government in the poll-bound state.

The brainstorming of the Congress top brass during the meeting would prove to be a "game changer" and a "transformative moment" for Telangana politics and the party, leaders said.

Announcing the detailed plan for the CWC meeting to be chaired by Congress chief Mallikarjun 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.