Top Congress leaders converged here on Saturday for the first meeting of the reconstituted CWC during which they will prepare a comprehensive road map for leading the party to victory in the upcoming assembly polls in five states and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
By holding the crucial Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in the Telangana capital, the party is also looking to send out a message that it will go all-out to dislodge the BRS government in the poll-bound state.
Ahead of the CWC meeting, the first in many years to be held outside Delhi, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said his party has fought for and ushered in democracy, social justice, progress and equality in the country.
”We will continue to fight for national integrity and unity in diversity.
”In consonance with our long cherished philosophy, the Congress Working Committee will craft a comprehensive road map to lead the party towards victory and strengthen the future of our nation and her people,” he said in his message shared on X, formerly Twitter.
In his post, Kharge also shared former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s message.
”We had made a promise to the people of Telangana. We have fulfilled that promise,” Sonia Gandhi said referring to the creation of the state of Telangana following the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014.
She said the Congress has always stood by the aspirations of the people of Telangana.
”Now, it’s time to lead the state into a new era of progress and prosperity. The Congress Working Committee stands ready to write a new chapter of development with dignity for all people of Telangana and our nation,” she said.
Before leaving for Hyderabad, Kharge said in Delhi that it will be the first CWC meeting after he took over as the party president in October last year.
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, he said.
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and all senior leaders will be present in the meeting and will hold discussions regarding the upcoming elections in five states, he said.
The focus of the meetings, Kharge said, will be on strengthening the organisation and discussions on alliances will take place in the meeting of the INDIA bloc.
The brainstorming of the Congress top brass during the meeting would prove to be a ”game changer” and a ”transformative moment” for Telangana politics as well as the party, according to party leaders.
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.
