Shashi Tharoor was among the group of 23 leaders that had raised questions about the party's leadership under Sonia Gandhi.
Published Aug 20, 2023 | 6:26 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 20, 2023 | 6:26 PM
File photos of Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor. (Supplied)
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday, 20 August, reconstituted the party’s top decision-making body, the Congress Working Committee (CWC).
While 39 members of the all-important panel are general members, it also has 32 permanent invitees, including some in-charges of state and 13 special invitees — including presidents of the Youth Congress, the National Students’ Union of India, the Mahila Congress and the Seva Dal — as ex-officio members.
Shashi Tharoor, Anand Sharma, and Mukul Wasnik, who were part of the group of 23 leaders that had raised questions about the party’s leadership under Sonia Gandhi, are among the general members of the new CWC.
Manish Tewari and Veerappa Moily, who were also part of the grouping, have been made permanent invitees.
Interestingly, Tharoor was also one of the final contestants in the race to become the Congress president, but lost out to Kharge in a landslide mandate that went in favour of the leader from Karnataka.
Following his appointment as a CWC member, Tharoor said that he was looking forward to serving the party under the leadership of Mallikarjun Kharge.
“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. As one who is aware of the historic role played by the CWC in guiding the party over the last 138 years, I am humbled and grateful to be part of this institution, and look forward to the opportunity to serve the party alongside my dedicated colleagues,” Tharoor wrote on X.
“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 added.
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. As one who is aware of the historic role played by the CWC in guiding the party over the last 138 years, I am humbled…
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 20, 2023
It should be noted that Tharoor was the sole opposition candidate against Kharge when the election to select the AICC president was held last year.
Following the election, Tharoor’s election team alleged mismanagement in Uttar Pradesh which was dismissed by him.
However, even though Tharoor won a meagre 1,072 votes compared to Kharge’s 7,897 votes in the presidential election, the party workers opined that the election had gained Tharoor an upper hand in Kerala.
When contacted by South First, Lok Sabha member MK Raghavan — the only senior Kerala leader to openly support Tharoor — estimated that he won 130 of the 287 votes cast in the state.
“Though senior leaders opposed him, Tharoor won the confidence of a sizeable portion of AICC members in the state by reaching out to them. Several young leaders openly said they preferred Tharoor in the battle.
“For us, the outcome is brilliant,” added Raghavan.
When, during the campaign for the Congress presidential election, Tharoor visited the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee office in Thiruvananthapuram, not one office-bearer turned up to welcome him.
But outside the gates of the part office, hundreds of ordinary party workers had gathered to meet him, shouting slogans in his support. It indicated a clear disconnect between the state’s Congress leadership and its workers.
And if the social media hype his candidature evoked in Kerala is any indication, Tharoor has won the hearts of Malayalis across the political spectrum.
Even traditional Left fellow-travellers openly identified Tharoor as their choice and expressed dismay over the Congress leadership’s preference of Mallikarjun Kharge.
Former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Pratibha Singh have also been included in the important panel, according to a Congress statement.
Sachin Pilot, who rebelled against the party’s government in Rajasthan and was later removed as deputy chief minister, is also among the new CWC members.
The CWC was dismantled just weeks after Kharge became the party president on 10 October last year. Formed again now, it replaces the Steering Committee that was set up as a stop-gap arrangement.
“The Steering Committee is a stop-gap arrangement under the party Constitution until the time CWC is formed once again. An AICC session will be held where members will be elected or selected — that decision will lie with the president. The process might take around two months,” Steering Committee member Manickam Tagore had told South First on 20 October last year.
The Congress President Shri @kharge has constituted the Congress Working Committee.
Here is the list: pic.twitter.com/dwPdbtxvY5
— Congress (@INCIndia) August 20, 2023
The general members of the CWC are Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, AK Antony, Ambika Soni, Meira Kumar, Digvijaya Singh, P Chidambaram, Tariq Anwar, Lal Thanhawla, Mukul Wasnik, Anand Sharma, Ashokrao Chavan, Ajay Maken, Charanjit Singh Channi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Kumari Selja, the statement said.
Gaikhangam, N Raghuveera Reddy, Shashi Tharoor, Tamradhwaj Sahu, Abhishek Singhvi, Salman Khurshid, Jairam Ramesh, Jitendra Singh, Randeep Surjewala, Sachin Pilot, Deepak Babaria, Jagdish Thakore, GS Mir, Avinash Pande, Deepa Dasmunsi, Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya, Gourav Gogoi, Syed Naseer Hussain, Kamaleshwar Patel, and KC Venugopal are also members.
(With PTI inputs)
