New Delhi, (Samajweekly) If BJP had floated the idea of ‘Margdarshak Mandal’, an advisory body for veterans, Congress has decided to retain most old-war horses in the party’s highest policy making body itself. Thus, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, now 90, and 81-year-old Lal Thanhawla, a former Mizoram Chief Minister, are included.
So is A.K. Antony, 82, a trusted lieutenant of Sonia Gandhi. His son Anil, however, joined BJP a few months ago.
Age is not a bar in the grand old party. AICC president Malikarjin Kharge could have come to the post accidentally only after Ashok Gehlot declined to give up as Rajasthan Chief Minister. Kharge is also 81.
If son embracing enemy camp is not a crime; even G-23 rebellion is partly forgotten.
From the G-23 club, prominent faces like Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kapil Sibal are already out of the Congress.
AICC chief Kharge brought in Veerappa Moily and Manish Tewari (both G-23 members) as permanent invitees into the CWC.
Three others — Shashi Tharoor, Anand Sharma and Mukul Wasnik get full membership.
Kharge’s intent could be to give a message that the ‘new Congress culture’ does not mind mere rebellion!
Sachin Pilot’s entry into the CWC is a crucial move both from national point of view and also ensuing Rajasthan elections.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is the newsmaker of the day as his name was dropped from the CWC.
In October 2022, he was almost ‘sure’ as AICC president provided he resigned as Chief Minister of Rajasthan.
This could be surprising but it is clear the Rajasthan chief minister has been shown the door from CWC.
A former political advisor to Rahul Gandhi as Congress general secretary in-charge ‘organisation’, he has to remain content with being CM till the polls.
Of course, he may sweat it out to win it again; but what is the guarantee he would not get another round of raw deal.
For Gehlot’s “rival” Sachin Pilot, after a series of cold shoulder treatment and ‘repeated assurances’ that his concerns will be looked after, he has been now included in the CWC.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah too has been dropped. Of course, along with DK Shivakumar, he was the architect of Congress party’s victory in the Karnataka assembly elections.
Tariq Anwar’s inclusion could be surprising. He was once political advisor to AICC president Sitaram Kesri.
Tariq was with late P.A. Sangma, and Sharad Pawar, forming the famous Troika opposing Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin! The ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ of 1999 has really made a full turn!
Others who made it also include Ashok Chavan, Ajay Maken, Charanjit Singh Channi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Kumari Selja.
Among die-hard party loyalists and good debaters in Parliament are Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Salman Khurshid and Jairam Ramesh.
All eyes will be on the new team and assignments Kharge could announce. Will Jairam Ramesh, a handpick of Rahul Gandhi and who reportedly pushed the Bharat Jodo Yatra hard, continue to get prominence?
If Congress loses out Rajasthan or if Sachin Pilot cannot become Chief Minister, he could be preferred as AICC general secretary in-charge organisation especially during 2024 polls. Pilot being comfortable in Hindi will be a major factor and moreover in 2018 assembly polls, Pilot played a major role in ensuring party’s return to power.
“I am honoured by the decision of the @INCIndia President Shri Mallikarjun @Kharge ji and the Congress central leadership to nominate me to the Working Committee,” Shashi Tharoor tweeted.
“None of us can accomplish anything without the lakhs of committed workers who are the lifeblood of the party. Today, above all, I bow to them. The countless Indians who seek a more inclusive and accepting India deserve the best from us,” he further wrote.
Senior Congress leader from Kerala, Ramesh Chennithala has to be content with being a permanent invitee in the reconstituted Congress Working Committee.
His supporters in Kerala say Chennithala had a speedy rise, becoming minister in the Kerala government under K. Karunakaran at the age of 27.
“He was a permanent invitee of the Congress party 19 years before and again including him in the same list does not look nice,” says one of them.
“Chennithala who has always toed the party line is out of the highest decision-making body of the Congress. This is an insult to a genuine and natural leader of the Congress,” one of his supporters said.
Chennithala stayed away from the media but his ‘protest’ is likely to surface.
With the BJP more than keen to enlist disgruntled Congressmen for its fledgling Kerala unit, Chennithala could be a man to watch.
Others who also find berths in the CWC are Adhir Ranjan Choudhary, Ambika Soni, Meira Kumar, Digvijaya Singh and P Chidambaram.
Gourav Gogoi from Assam and Deepa Das Munshi from West Bengal also made it to the coveted panel.
(Nirendra Dev is a New Delhi-based journalist. He is also author of the books ‘The Talking Guns: North East India’, and ‘Modi to Moditva: An Uncensored Truth’. Views expressed are personal)
