In a clear sign of where things are headed for the group of 23 senior leaders who penned the letter seeking reforms in the functioning of the Congress party, former Minister Jitin Prasada and former president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee Raj Babbar were left out of seven new committees that were formed for the State.
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The Congress on Sunday evening announced the formation of a Manifesto Committee, Outreach Committee, Membership Committee, Program Implementation Committee, Training and Cadre Development Committee, Panchayat Raj Election Committee and Media and Communication Advisory Committee. These committees have been formed keeping the March 2022 Assembly elections in the State. Insiders pointed out that it is unprecedented for the party to start preparations two years in advance.
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The other notable omission is of senior leader RPN Singh who had a faceoff with former party president Rahul Gandhi at a recent meeting of the Congress Working Committee in June. Mr. Singh had suggested that the party must ensure criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Chinese incursion should not get personal. Mr. Gandhi lost his temper at this suggestion accusing the other senior leaders of going easy on the BJP and Mr. Modi. Mr. Singh is not a signatory of the G23 letter.
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Leaving out Mr. Prasada and Mr. Singh is even more surprising, insiders said, because both are considered close to the Gandhi family. And Mr. Singh has had a successful stint as in-charge of Jharkhand, where the party is part of the JMM-led government.
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More recently, the party re-jigged its team in Parliament, appointing Assam MP Gaurav Gogoi as the deputy leader in the Lok Sabha superseding former UPA Ministers Manish Tewari and Shashi Tharoor. Both Mr. Tharoor and Mr. Tewari were signatories of the G23 letter. “If this trend holds on, then both Shashi Tharoor and Anand Sharma [who too is part of G23] will not be renominated as Chairpersons of the standing committees,” another senior leader opined. Mr. Tharoor heads the Standing Committee on IT and Mr. Sharma heads the Committee on Home Affairs.
