Delhi Confidential: New CWC picks a mix of caste calculations, loyalty, inner-party accommodation

A month after the Congress at its Udaipur shivir decided to give 50 per cent representation to those aged below 50 at all levels, including the CWC, party chief Sonia Gandhi Thursday inducted four new members into the CWC but age clearly was not a consideration. It was rather a mix of caste calculations, loyalty and inner-party accommodation. Former Rajya Sabha MP T Subbarami Reddy, who was made a permanent invitee, is 79. He was rewarded for his loyalty. His induction is also aimed at sending a message to the influential Reddy community. Kumari Selja, who was made a CWC member, is close to Sonia. She was recently replaced as Haryana Congress chief with a close associate of Bhupinder Singh Hooda. A former Rajya Sabha MP, she also did not get renominated. Ajay Kumar Lallu, who was made a special invitee, is the only one among the four who is under 50. The 42-year-old had to be accommodated since he was asked to resign as UP Congress chief after the Assembly election loss. Abhishek Singhvi, a Rajya Sabha MP and noted lawyer, is the party’s go to man for everything legal. With Sonia and Rahul Gandhi facing ED heat in the National Herald case, his entry into the CWC shows the party’s increasing reliance on him.

In transit: AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s presence at the Mumbai Airport amid the unfolding political drama in Maharashtra sparked a buzz on Thursday. But it turned out that she was in transit on her way to the Maldives. She was at the airport for one hour to change planes. Her daughter turns 20 and she is completing her diving instructors’ course in the Maldives. Priyanka is expected to return by the end of this month.

Hope floats: In the backdrop of two key appointments — of former Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta as the new NIA chief and IB Special Director Swagat Das as Special Secretary in the Home Ministry, hopes have been rekindled for possible new chiefs at the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing. With the government dithering on police appointments — the NIA was without a regular chief for over a year — it was speculated that the Centre may go for further extension of incumbents Arvind Kumar and Samant Goel in the two agencies, respectively. The extended tenure of both officers is coming to an end on June 30. Even the extended tenure of Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla is going to end on August 31.