Congress Working Committee meets in Delhi to chart strategy on key national issues

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) met in New Delhi on Saturday under the chairmanship of party president Mallikarjun Kharge, with senior leaders gathering at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters at Indira Bhawan to discuss key political and organisational issues.

The meeting, which was still in progress, was attended by Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and several chief ministers and senior functionaries of the party.

Among those present were Congress general secretary K C Venugopal, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat, former minister Salman Khurshid, and MPs Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Rajeev Shukla. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also attended the meeting, despite recent comments that were seen as diverging from the party’s stated line.

Describing the meeting as “very important”, Harish Rawat told reporters that issues of national concern were on the agenda. He criticised the proposed removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the rural employment guarantee scheme, calling such a move unacceptable in independent India.

Veteran Congress leader M Veerappa Moily said the committee was expected to deliberate on a range of pressing national issues, without providing further details.

Sources said the CWC was likely to discuss the party’s strategy for launching a major movement against the proposed VB G-RAM-G Act, as well as legal and political developments related to the National Herald case. Matters concerning the Aravalli region and other policy-related concerns were also expected to figure in the discussions.

Meanwhile, a small group of protesters gathered outside the AICC headquarters during the meeting, calling for Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara to be appointed as the state’s next chief minister. The protesters raised slogans and held placards advocating greater representation of Dalit leadership in the state, seeking to draw the attention of the Congress high command.

The outcome of the CWC meeting is expected to shape the party’s political approach in the coming weeks as it prepares for intensified opposition to the Centre’s policies.

With IANS inputs