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The meeting, essentially called with the mission of “Saving the Constitution”, will see the party itself bringing about changes in its internal constitution to set up an all-encompassing Election Management Committee
The constitutional change and Priyanka Vadra’s elevation could finally give her that formal stature in the party’s power structure apart from freeing up Rahul Gandhi to focus on campaigning and Parliament duties. (PTI)
In a first in over 60 years, the Congress will hold its working committee meeting in Ahmedabad next month. Much has changed for the party in Gujarat where it once held power and has now been wiped out. However, Rahul Gandhi’s clarion call in Parliament, which came with a challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he and his party would be defeated in his home state, has given some hope to beleaguered party workers in Gujarat.
At a meeting with his cadre recently, Gandhi tried to address the issue of workers abandoning the Congress. He also accused many state Congress leaders of being hand-in-glove with the BJP.
At the CWC, however, the challenges for the Congress are many. The meeting, essentially called with the mission of “Saving the Constitution”, will see the party itself bringing about changes in its internal constitution — a move that is likely to change the dynamics in the Grand Old Party.
The Congress is planning to amend its constitution to set up an Election Management Committee. But why the need to change the constitution for the move? That’s because so far, this work was done by the organisation department as well as special committees announced from time to time.
Now, it is expected that the election committee will be given a formal and institutional shape. Likely to be filled with seniors like Mukul Wasnik and Ashok Gehlot, it’s being touted as Gandhi’s pet idea. According to Gandhi, the absence of such a body is one of the reasons behind the Congress’s electoral losses. In fact, at the CWC, the revival path of the party will be discussed but Gandhi is of the view that this cannot happen as long as elections are “manipulated”.
The new committee will be made the most powerful body in the party, which will streamline its election management — including micro-managing campaigns, choosing candidates and alliances where needed. Till now, these decisions were taken by either the organisation in-charge or election managers and state in-charges.
There is also a huge demand for and possibility of Priyanka Vadra being given a pivotal role in the new committee. The constitutional change and Vadra’s elevation could finally give her that formal stature in the party’s power structure. Vadra has emerged as the key trouble-shooter for the party during the Rajasthan crisis as well as the skirmishes in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh. The move would also free up Rahul Gandhi to focus on campaigning and Parliament duties.
It could also clip the wings of many powerful seniors in the party — an agenda that Gandhi has been trying to carry out for some time now.
The Ahmedabad CWC will not just be about saving the Indian Constitution but about resurrecting the party through a key constitutional change. And, possibly, putting yet another Gandhi firmly in the saddle.
