Mallikarjun Kharge forms 47-member Steering Committee, retains most from CWC
New Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge Wednesday set up a Steering Committee which, the party said, would function in place of the Congress Working Committee, till a new CWC is formed.
Most of the members of the last CWC, including former prime minister Manmohan Singh and former party presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, have been retained in the interim panel announced just hours after Kharge took over as the new party chief.
All the members of the CWC and office bearers of the party put down their papers to Kharge to enable him to choose his own team.
According to the list released by the AICC general secretary (Organisation), the members of the Steering Committee include senior party leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, A K Antony, Ambika Soni, Anand Sharma, K C Venugopal, Randeep Surjewala and Digvijaya Singh.
“As per Article XV (b) of the Constitution of the Indian National Congress, the Congress president has constituted the Steering Committee which would function in place of the Congress Working Committee,” the order read.
The CWC is the apex decision-making body of the Congress and the Steering Committee will now take all decisions till the ratification of Kharge’s election at the party’s plenary session. The session is likely to be held in March next year.
