Congress Working Committee

Last updated

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) is the executive committee of the Indian National Congress. It was formed in December 1920 at Nagpur session of INC which was headed by C. Vijayaraghavachariar. It is composed of senior party leaders and is responsible for taking decisions on important policy and organizational matters, as well as guiding and directing the party's activities and campaigns at the national level. It typically consists of fifteen members elected from the All India Congress Committee (AICC). The CWC is headed by the party president, who is elected by the members of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), the party's central governing body.

Contents

Mahatma Gandhi attends a Congress Working Committee meeting at Anand Bhavan, Allahabad; Vallabhbhai Patel to the left, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit to the right, January 1940. Gandhi Patel 1940.jpg
Mahatma Gandhi attends a Congress Working Committee meeting at Anand Bhavan, Allahabad; Vallabhbhai Patel to the left, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit to the right, January 1940.

The Working Committee has had different levels of power in the party at different times. In the period prior to Indian independence in 1947, the Working Committee was the centre of power, and the Working President was frequently more active than the Congress President. In the period after 1967, when the Congress Party split for the first time (between factions loyal to Indira Gandhi and those led by the Syndicate of regional leaders including Kamaraj, Prafulla Chandra Sen, Ajoy Mukherjee, and Morarji Desai), the power of the Working Committee declined; but Indira Gandhi's triumph in 1971 led to a re-centralisation of power away from the states and the All-India Congress Committee and caused the Working Committee in Delhi to once again be the paramount decision-making body of the party. [1] The centralised nature of Congress decision making has since caused observers in the states to informally describe instructions from Delhi as coming from the "High Command".

Composition of Congress Working Committee

Sources: [2] [3] [4]

President

NamePortraitPosition in government
Mallikarjun Kharge
Shri Mallikarjun Kharge takes over the charge of Union Minister for Railways, in New Delhi on June 19, 2013 (cropped).jpg


Members [5]

S. No Member Portrait Position in government
1. Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi 2014 (cropped).jpg
2. Manmohan Singh Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in March 2014.jpg
3. Rahul Gandhi Rahul Gandhi (portrait crop).jpg
4. A. K. Antony A. K. Antony.jpg
5. Ambika Soni Ambika Soni.jpg
6. Abhishek Singhvi Abhishek Manu Singhvi at the India Economic Summit 2008.jpg
7. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury The Minister of State for Railways, Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury addressing at the presentation of the National Awards for Outstanding Service in Railways, in Mumbai on April 16, 2013 (cropped).jpg
8. Ajay Maken Ajay Maken at NDTV Sports event.jpg
9. Anand Sharma Anand Sharma - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2012.jpg
10. Jairam Ramesh Jairam ramesh.jpg
11. Gaikhangam Gangmei
12. Jitendra Singh The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs & Sports, Shri Jitendra Singh addressing the media persons after his visit from Lausanne, Switzerland, in New Delhi on May 16, 2013.jpg
13. Selja Kumari Selja - Kolkata 2011-11-05 6516 Cropped.JPG
14. Dr Lal Thanhawla Lal Thanhawla.jpg
15. Mukul Wasnik Mukul Wasnik in January 2010.jpg
16. Charanjit Singh Channi Charanjit Singh Channi.png
17. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (6).jpg
  • General Secretary
18. P. Chidambaram P. Chidambaram.jpg
19. Randeep Surjewala Randeep Surjewala.jpg
20. N. Raghuveera Reddy
21. Tariq Anwar
Tariq Anwar addressing the National Conference of State Ministers of Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries, in New Delhi on February 06, 2013.jpg
22. Sachin Pilot Sachin Pilot at the India Economic Summit 2010 cropped.jpg
23. Tamradhwaj Sahu
24. Shashi Tharoor Sasi Tharoor 2021 at Kollam.jpg
25. Salman Khurshid Salman Khurshid portrait (cropped).jpg
26. Digvijaya Singh Digvijaya Singh (cropped).jpg
27. Deepak Babaria
28. Meira Kumar Meira Kumar.jpg
29. Jagdish Thakor
30. Ghulam Ahmad Mir
31. Avinash Pandey
32. Deepa Dasmunsi The Minister of State for Urban Development, Smt. Deepa Dasmunsi addressing at the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding between EEPC India, CII & Kotra, in New Delhi on January 16, 2014.jpg
33. Gaurav Gogoi
34. Syed Naseer Hussain
35. Kamleshwar Patel Kamleshwar patel bhaiya.jpg
36. K. C. Venugopal K.C. Venugopal addressing at the Concurrent session - Young Achievers, at the 12th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 'Engaging Diaspora Connecting Across Generation', in New Delhi on January 07, 2014 (cropped).jpg

Permanent Invitees

[6]

S.noMemberPortraitPosition
1. Pratibha Singh Pratibha Singh 2014-05-13 13-48 (cropped).jpg MP Lok Sabha, Mandi
2. Pawan Kumar Bansal PawanKumarBansalChd.JPG Ex MP, (Chandigarh)
3. Veerappa Moily Veerappa Moily BNC.jpg Ex MP, (Karnataka)
4. Harish Rawat HarishRawat.jpg Former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand
5. Mohan Prakash Ex MLA, Rajasthan
6. Ramesh Chennithala Ramesh Chennithala profile 02.jpg MLA, Kerala
7. B. K. Hariprasad MLC, Karnataka
8. Manish Tewari Manish Tewari.jpg MP, Punjab
9. Tariq Hameed Karra Ex MP, Jammu & Kashmir
10. Deepender Singh Hooda Indian Red Cross Society.jpg MP, Haryana
11.Girish Chodankar
12. T. Subbarami Reddy T.Subbarami Reddy.jpg Ex MP, Andhra Pradesh
13.K Raju
14. Chandrakant Handore Chandrakant Handore.jpg Ex MLA, Maharashtra
15. Meenakshi Natarajan Meenakshi Natarajan.jpg Ex MP, Madhya Pradesh
16. Phulo Devi Netam MP, Chhattisgarh
17. Damodar Raja Narasimha Cabinet Minister, Telangana
18. Sudip Roy Barman Shri Sudip Roy Burman.jpg MLA, Tripura

Special Invitees

[7]

Memberparty Position
G. Sanjeeva Reddy President, INTUC
Neeraj Kundan President, NSUI
BV Srinivas President, IYC
Lalji DesaiChief Organiser ,Seva Dal
Gidugu Rudra Raju Ex President APCC
Chinta Mohan Ex-MP
Sachin RaoTraining Incharge

Criticism

The Congress has not held internal elections for CWC for nearly 20 years and the last elections were held in 1998. [8] In 2017 Election Commission ordered it to hold internal elections [9] but as of 2020 no elections were held. [10] When Congress was trying to forge an alliance with ideologically opposite Shiv Sena in Maharashtra in 2019, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam publicly urged Sonia Gandhi to dissolve the CWC, saying "they cannot be trusted anymore." [11] [12] In 2020 a paper by Observer Research Foundation calls a large number of CWC members "unprincipled, opportunists and self-serving individuals for whom self-interest is paramount." [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rajiv Gandhi</span> Prime Minister of India from 1984 to 1989

Rajiv Gandhi was an Indian politician who served as the 6th Prime Minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the assassination of his mother, then–prime minister Indira Gandhi, to become at the age of 40 the youngest Indian prime minister. He served until his defeat at the 1989 election, and then became Leader of the Opposition, Lok Sabha, resigning in December 1990, six months before his own assassination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian National Congress</span> Indian political party

The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party or simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Empire in Asia and Africa. From the late 19th century, and especially after 1920, under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, the Congress became the principal leader of the Indian independence movement. The Congress led India to independence from the United Kingdom, and significantly influenced other anti-colonial nationalist movements in the British Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonia Gandhi</span> Indian politician (born 1946)

Sonia Gandhi is an Indian politician. She is the longest-serving president of the Indian National Congress, a social democratic political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independence history. She took over as the party leader in 1998, seven years after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, her husband and a former Prime Minister of India, and remained in office until 2017 after serving for twenty-two years. She returned to the post in 2019 and remained the President for another three years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rahul Gandhi</span> Indian politician (born 1970)

Rahul Rajiv Gandhi is an Indian politician and a member of the Indian Parliament, who represents the constituency of Wayanad, Kerala in the Lok Sabha. He previously represented the constituency of Amethi, Uttar Pradesh. He is a member of the main opposition party, the Indian National Congress and was the party president from December 2017 to July 2019. He is the chairperson of the Indian Youth Congress, the National Students Union of India and a trustee of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust. He is the son of the former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janata Party</span> Indian political party

The Janata Party was a political party in India. It was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian National Congress. In the 1977 general election, the party defeated the Congress and Janata leader Morarji Desai became the first non-Congress prime minister in independent modern India's history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Priyanka Gandhi</span> Indian politician

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is an Indian politician and the general secretary of the All India Congress Committee. She is the daughter of former Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, sister of Rahul Gandhi, and granddaughter of Feroze and Indira Gandhi, making her a member of the politically prominent Nehru-Gandhi family. She is also a trustee of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanjay Gandhi</span> Indian politician (1946–1980)

Sanjay Gandhi was an Indian politician and the younger son of Indira Gandhi and Feroze Gandhi. He was a member of parliament, Lok Sabha and the Nehru–Gandhi family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanjay Nirupam</span> Indian politician

Sanjay Nirupam is a former member of the Indian Parliament from Indian National Congress party, and former President of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee. Nirupam served two terms as an MP in the Rajya Sabha first as a member from the Shiv Sena and then from the Congress Party. He represented North Mumbai Lok Sabha constituency from 2009 to 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Emergency (India)</span> 1975–1977 state of emergency in India under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi

The Emergency in India was a 21-month period from 1975 to 1977 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had a state of emergency declared across the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buta Singh</span> Indian politician (1934–2021)

Buta Singh was an Indian politician and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. He was the Union Home Minister of India, Governor of Bihar and was chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes from 2007 to 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All India Congress Committee</span> Central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress (INC)

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from state-level Pradesh Congress Committees and can have as many as a thousand members. It is the AICC that elects members of the Congress Working Committee and the Congress President, who is also the head of the AICC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Indian National Congress</span>

The Indian National Congress was established when 72 representatives from all over the country met at Bombay in 1885. Prominent delegates included Dadabhai Naoroji, Surendranath Banerjee, Badruddin Tyabji, Pherozeshah Mehta, W. C. Bonnerjee, S. Ramaswami Mudaliar, S. Subramania Iyer, and Romesh Chunder Dutt. The Englishman Allan Octavian Hume, a former British civil servant, was one of the founding members of the Indian National Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nehru–Gandhi family</span> Indian political dynasty

The Nehru–Gandhi family is an Indian political family that has occupied a prominent place in the politics of India. The involvement of the family has traditionally revolved around the Indian National Congress, as various members have traditionally led the party. Three members of the family—Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi—have served as the prime minister of India, while several others have been members of parliament (MP).

Avinash Pandey is an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress party. He has been a Youth Congress leader and held the post of General Secretary in the Indian Youth Congress when Shri Maninder Singh Bitta was the President. He has been a member of the Legislative Council, Maharashtra, and was appointed chairman, of Maharashtra State Small Scale Industries Development Corporation (MSSIDC).

Ajoy Kumar a former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, was elected as the MP in the 15th Lok Sabha, from the Jamshedpur Lok Sabha constituency. He is the AICC In-charge of 3 states namely Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee, Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee and Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee. He is a member of the CWC. He is also the National Spokesperson of Indian National Congress. He was also the Former President of Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee.

The Indian National Congress (INC) is one of the two major political parties in India. The prominent members of the party are the president Sonia Gandhi, vice-president Rahul Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Priyanka Gandhi. INC took part in the elections alongside other members of the United Progressive Alliance. On the fourth anniversary of the second United Progressive Alliance government, the INC announced that its campaign for the election would be led by Prime minister Manmohan Singh, party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and general secretary Rahul Gandhi.

Syed Naseer Hussain is an Indian politician of Indian National Congress and a Member of the upper house of the Indian Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, from the state of Karnataka. He served as National Media Panelist (AICC) for the past three years. He also served as National Secretary and Chief Election Authority of Indian Youth Congress. He also served as the Chairman of various committees; Vice-Chairman, two labour boards and Chairman, two sub- committees, Government of India. He is from Bellary..He appointed as member of CWC in Congress. Currently, Dr. Hussain serves on the Congress Working Committee as a full time Member and is responsible for managing the office of the Indian National Congress President Honorable Shri Malikarjun Kharge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian National Congress campaign for the 2024 Indian general election</span>

The Indian National Congress is known as the Grand Old Party of India. The party had ruled India for most of its post independence period for nearly 54 years. The party led coalition United Progressive Alliance is in opposition bench in 16th Lok Sabha and 17th Lok Sabha against the National Democratic Alliance. The party is contesting the elections with the promise of upholding Nyay (justice), secularism, federalism, pluralism, democracy and constitutionalism.

The 2022 Indian National Congress presidential election was an internal party election that was held to elect the next president of the Indian National Congress. The election was held on 17 October 2022 and counting of votes took place on 19 October 2022. Mallikarjun Kharge won the election amassing 7,897 votes compared to 1,072 of Shashi Tharoor.

References

  1. "Towards a More Competitive Party System in India", Ram Joshi and Kirtidev Desai, Asian Survey, Vol. 18, No. 11. (Nov., 1978), pp. 1091-1116.
  2. "Indian National Congress".
  3. "Analysis: New Congress Working Committee - Focus on Polls, Not Rocking Boat".
  4. Phukan, Sandeep (20 August 2023). "Shashi Tharoor, Sachin Pilot included in revamped Congress Working Committee". The Hindu.
  5. "Indian National Congress - Congress Working Committee".
  6. "Indian National Congress - Congress Working Committee". Archived from the original on 20 July 2019.
  7. "Indian National Congress - Congress Working Committee". Archived from the original on 17 July 2019.
  8. "Nobody But Rahul, Says Congress Leader Whose Father Ran vs Sonia Gandhi". Archived from the original on 12 August 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  9. "Election Commission Tells Congress to Hold Internal Elections by June 30" . Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  10. Pankaj Vohra (8 August 2020). "EC can freeze Congress symbol or initiate action if the party remains leaderless" . Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  11. "Congress "Defamed", Rahul Gandhi Should Return to Lead: Sanjay Nirupam After Maharashtra Twist". Archived from the original on 6 February 2020.
  12. "Old Grudge, Unfulfilled Demand: Why Rahul Gandhi Remained Absent from Cong's Meet on Delhi Riots". 26 February 2020. Archived from the original on 26 February 2020.
  13. "Congress moving towards extinction?". Archived from the original on 14 March 2020.