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Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI, DEC 19: Elections to the Congress Working Committee CWC, the Congress party8217;s highest policy-making body, will take place on January 7 in Delhi.
The election schedule to the CWC was formally announced today by the party8217;s central election authority CEA chairman Ram Niwas Mirdha in Chennai, ending weeks of speculation over its date and venue.
The one-day schedule for the CWC elections makes it clear that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has decided to stick to her plan of delinking the CWC elections from the customary AICC plenary session, which forms the last phase of the process of organisational elections.
There are indications that the plenary session will be postponed till after next year8217;s crucial Assembly elections in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam and Pondicherry. As for now, Sonia8217;s first priority is to get a new CWC in place and she obviously wants to avoid the elaborate plenary session 8212; which only discusses, criticises and adopts key policy issues 8212; till the performance of the party in the polls in five states becomes clear. If the party does well in the polls, she may go in for a session or else it might be dumped altogether.
The other key question which has been dogging party circles for some time and still remains unanswered is whether Sonia will call for elections to the CWC or give in to the pressure of the AICC authorising her to nominate the entire 24-member body. With reservation for women four and Dalits, tribals, OBCs and minorities two reducing the number of seats open for election in the general category to a mere six, the party is vertically split on the issue of elections or nominations.
Party sources claim that the younger lot in the party comprising Kamal Nath, Suresh Kalmadi and Salman Khurshid favour elections, while their senior colleagues like Arjun Singh, Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy and N.D Tiwari, feel that nominating the entire working committee is a better way out. No wonder then that at the root of the confrontation is the jostling for berths, as the old guard feels that nominations would provide them a better opportunity to maneuvere their way into the party8217;s highest policy-making body and the younger lot thinks that it would 8220;jeopardise8221; the chances of some of them.
The final decision has been left to Sonia but party sources say that it would be very difficult for her to press for an election if the AICC passes a unanimous resolution authorising her to nominate the CWC.
