Post Karnataka polls, all eyes on CWC reshuffle

New Delhi: Following the victory in the Karnataka Assembly election, all eyes are now focused on the long-delayed restructuring of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's main decision-making body.

The Steering Committee unanimously decided to give party president Mallikarjun Kharge the power to nominate every member of the working committee (CWC) at the party's three-day plenary meeting in Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh, in February of this year. As a result, elections were not necessary for the party's highest decision-making body.

The party during the Plenary Session had also decided to provide 50 per cent reservation to the SC, ST, OBC, minorities, women, and youth below the age of 50 years in the CWC and also increased the members of the highest decision-making body to 35.

With the crucial Assembly elections in Karnataka now over, many party leaders are hopeful to get a berth in the CWC.

Party sources said that the three Congress CMs -- Rajasthan's Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh's Bhupesh Baghel and Himachal Pradesh's Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu -- are likely to find a place in the CWC.

Even some old guards of the party are likely to be retained in the CWC. These include former Union minister Ambika Soni, Kumari Selja and Tariq Anwar.

Even Mukul Wasnik, who is a Dalit leader, may also be included in the CWC. Wasnik was a member of the G23, which had demanded elections to the CWC in 2020.

Besides Soni, Wasnik, Anwar and Selja, Digvijaya Singh, Bhakta Charan Das, P. Chidambaram, J.P. Aggarwal, Jairam Ramesh, Rajiv Shukla, Shaktisinh Gohil, H.K. Patil are strong claimants for the CWC berths and are also likely to be repeated.

Meanwhile, close confidantes of former party chief Rahul Gandhi, which includes Randeep Singh Surjewala, Jairam Ramesh, K.C. Venugopal, Chella Kumar, Manickam Tagore, and Jitendra Singh are holding important posts and are expected to stage a comeback in the CWC.

The party source also indicated that many of the state in-charges may get promotions and will be included in the CWC.

Even some of the leaders like Ajay Kumar Lallu, former Uttar Pradesh Congress chief, due to his close proximity with General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra may get a berth in the CWCA

There have been demands from within the party to include former Union minister Manish Tewari and Shashi Tharoor in the CWC.

Tharoor had contested unsuccessfully against Kharge in the Congress presidential election last year.

Besides the two senior leaders, the name of veteran party leader Anand Sharma and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is also being discussed for the CWC.

Meanwhile, two top legal minds of Congress -- Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Salman Khurshid -- too may get a position in the CWC.

Even Congress' whip in Rajya Sabha Syed Naseer Hussain and party leader Gurdeep Singh Sappal, who have been working behind the scenes, may also be rewarded with the CWC berth.