Congress president Sonia Gandhi will form an advisory group of CWC members for discussion on political matters and challenges before the party, and will constitute a “task force” for internal reforms to prepare for 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Making the announcement to the delegates at the end of the three-day Chintan Shivir, the Congress chief made it clear that the advisory group “is not a collective decision-making body”, but a forum she will chair to benefit from the advice of experienced party leaders.
The clarification appeared significant in view of the demand of the dissident G-23 bloc that there should be collective decision making in the party and the Congress Parliamentary Board should be revived. The formation of advisory body is seen as a rebuff to restoration to CPB. For the party struggling with electoral defeats, the AICC will set up a dedicated department for “election management” – a long felt need for brainstorming on strategy, campaign and alliances for the round-the-year poll cycle, instead of approaching each election episodically. Sources said the measure was added to the “Udaipur declaration” by the CWC on the demand of Rajiv Shukla and Jitendra Singh, who incidentally have been flagging its requirement for one year.
The CWC adopted the Udaipur declaration on the recommendations of six sub-committees on political affairs, economic policy, organisation, social justice, youth and farmers.
The Congress will also form an “internal insight department” which will collect survey/feedback on important issues to aid decision-making.
Among all issues, the organisational reforms were the most watched as workers and leaders believe they will address the political decline. A “national training institute” will be set up for inhouse training in ideology and party viewpoint on important subjects.
As expected, Congress approved “one family one ticket”, with the caveat that a second member can get the nomination after putting in five years in the party. Congress also announced “one man one post” and banned back to back tenures for office-bearers to “give chance to new people” . A tenure now will be followed by a cooling period of three years. These measures are designed to improve the messaging among workers who resent the monopoly of leaders and families in the party units, which is most rampant in the lower rungs of blocks and districts. To make the state units proactive, each PCC will have a “ political affairs committee” to collectively evolve positions on important local issues.
