Mallikarjun Kharge dissolved the Congress Working Committee and constituted a 47-member Steering Committee in its place. In this committee, apart from former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, AK Antony, Ambika Soni, Anand Sharma, KC. Venugopal, and Randeep Surjewala has also been included.
New Delhi: Mallikarjun Kharge has taken a big step as soon as he took over as Congress President. He dissolved the Congress Working Committee and formed a 47-member Steering Committee in its place. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi have also been included in this committee.
The interim committee headed by Kharge will replace the Congress Working Committee (CWC) until a new CWC is formed after Kharge's election is confirmed in the party's plenary session. It is worth noting here that most of the members of the previous CWC have been retained in this committee, but senior party MP Shashi Tharoor has not been given a place in it.
According to information received from Congress General Secretary (Organisation), the members of the committee include senior party leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, AK Antony, Ambika Soni, Anand Sharma, KC Venugopal, Randeep Surjewala and Digvijay Singh. Venugopal said, "As per Article 15 (b) of the Constitution of the Indian National Congress, the Congress President has constituted a Steering Committee, which will function in place of the Congress Working Committee."
The CWC is the supreme decision-making body of the Congress and the Steering Committee will now take all decisions in the plenary session of the party till the confirmation of Kharge's election, which will include all Pradesh Congress Committee, representatives. This session is likely to be held in March next year.