In first move as Congress chief, Kharge forms 47-member panel, retains most from CWC

The newly appointed Congress president, Mallikarjun Kharge, has established a Steering Committee to temporarily replace the Congress Working Committee (CWC) until a new CWC is formed. The interim panel, announced shortly after Kharge assumed the party’s leadership, retains most members of the previous CWC, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and former party presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Shashi Tharoor, Kharge’s competitor in the party’s presidential elections, is notably absent from the committee. Tharoor, previously heading the Professional Congress wing, resigned ahead of the polls. Several CWC special invitees, such as Ajay Kumar Lallu, Deepender Singh Hooda, Sachin Rao, and Chinta Mohan, as well as organizational leaders like Lalji Desai, Srinivas B V (IYC chief), Neeraj Kundan (NSUI chief), Netta D’Souza (Mahila Congress chief), and G Sanjeeva Reddy (president of Intuc), are also not included in the new panel.

Anand Sharma, a member of the CWC and a key figure in the G23 group advocating for organizational reforms, has been retained in the Steering Committee. All CWC members and party office bearers resigned to allow Kharge to form his own team.

The Steering Committee comprises senior party leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, A K Antony, Ambika Soni, Anand Sharma, K C Venugopal, Randeep Surjewala, and Digvijaya Singh. Acting under Article XV (b) of the Constitution of the Indian National Congress, the Steering Committee will assume the decision-making responsibilities of the CWC until Kharge’s election is ratified at the party’s plenary session, anticipated to take place in March next year.