The Congress president, Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday reconstituted the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s highest decision making body with a blend of young and old leaders.
A report appearing in the The Indian Express stated that the former Chief Minister of Assam, Tarun Gogoi, has been inducted into the CWC. The CWC, which acts as an advisory panel on all key decisions of the party, was not in place since the plenary session in March. The first meeting of the CWC will be held on July 22 next.
Gandhi has fused both young and old blood alike in the CWC and this is the advisory panel which will lead the party into the 2019 general elections. Among the permanent invitees to the CWC includes the name of Gaurav Gogoi, son of Tarun Gogoi.
The former CM of Assam might be an octogenarian, but he is still considered the Congress ‘talisman’ in Assam. Though the party went down tamely to the BJP in the 2016 Assembly elections, but, reports stated that Gogoi enjoys the backing of Sonia Gandhi, something which the Congress president Rahul Gandhi cannot ignore even if he wants to groom a new leader before the 2019 elections. This might be the reason why the octogenarian has been inducted into the CWC.
The report further stated that Rahul Gandhi cannot ignore the fact that Tarun Gogoi has led the party to three successive victories in Assam. The AICC had authorised Rahul Gandhi to nominate the new CWC at the plenary session held in March this year. Giving rise to expectation that there might be an overhaul of the set-up, Rahul Gandhi had said at the session that he wanted to break down walls in the party. However, as the reconstituted CWC shows, the Congress president, who took over the responsibility in December last year, has had to balance the aspirations of the younger generation in the party with the expectations of the veterans.