The Congress Working Committee (CWC) will meet on Tuesday to ratify the schedule for its internal polls that will conclude in October with the election of the next president of the party.
But the party’s highest decision-making body is also expected to discuss the upcoming presidential elections — for which it has taken the initiative to try and field a common opposition candidate, review the country’s political situation, especially the rapidly deteriorating situation in Kashmir, and discuss whether the sort of opposition unity the party is engaged in is the way forward.
Sonia to chair
Unlike the last CWC meeting held last November in her absence, Congress sources said party president Sonia Gandhi was likely to chair the meeting that is expected to give “ex-post facto” approval to the polls. But given the way she has pulled out at the last moment from party meetings, it is still not a certainty.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will be present.
In the last meeting in November 2016, the CWC had unanimously asked Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who had presided, to take over as party chief. The resolution moved last November by veteran A.K. Antony was seconded by both former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel.
CWC members expect that there will be some reference to that meeting as it is evident that Ms. Gandhi wishes to ease herself from the hurly burly of everyday politics. Restive party members are saying that Mr. Gandhi’s continued seeming reluctance to take on the top job is causing uncertainty among party workers.
Additional units
Some States, including Uttarakhand and Assam, have also demanded the creation of additional organisational units and the CWC is likely to sanction the move.
The Election Commission has already given a deadline of December 31 this year to complete the party’s polls. The fresh poll schedule circulated by the party’s central election authority says elections for the post of the Congress president will take place between September 16 and October 15.
Once a party chief is chosen, elections to the CWC will take place in November-December. The Congress constitution says that 12 of the 25-member CWC have to be elected by All India Congress Committee members while the others are to be nominated by the new president.
The fresh poll schedule has been divided into five phases. The first stage of new enrolments will end on August 20, while the second phase of electing block presidents will conclude on September 4. The third segment in which district presidents are elected ends on September 15.
