1st meeting of newly-constituted CWC convened on Sep 16 in Hyderabad: Cong

The first meeting of the newly-constituted Congress Working Committee under party chief Mallikarjun Kharge will be held in Hyderabad on September 16 and will be followed by an election rally near the state capital the next day in poll-bound Telangana.

Announcing this at a press conference held at the All India Congress Committee headquarters here, Congress general secretary organisation K C Venugopal said an extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting will be held on September 17 that will include all Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chiefs.

The meeting will discuss the political situation in the country and review the party's poll preparedness in five states where elections are due this year. A political resolution will also be passed at the meeting.

The CWC is the top decision-making body of the Congress, and Kharge had reconstituted it in August, 10 months after he took charge as the Congress president.

With the Congress seeking to consolidate its hold in the poll-bound southern state, Venugopal said that on September 17 evening, which is celebrated as Telangana National Integration Day, the party will hold a "mega rally" near Hyderabad, where it will announce five guarantees for the Telangana assembly election.

"September 17, 2023 is the big day for Telangana, as you all know. September 17, 2023 evening, we are holding a massive mega rally near Hyderabad.

"Congress President, former Congress presidents and all other senior leaders of the party will attend that mega rally nearby Hyderabad," Venugopal told reporters at the presser where Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh was also present.

Assembly elections in Telangana are slated later this year and the Congress is pulling all stops to wrest power from the ruling BRS. The K Chandrasekhar Rao-led BRS has been in power for the last almost 10 years and is facing a challenge from both Congress and BJP.

Venugopal said that after the public meeting, the Congress president will flag off the cavalcade for all CWC members, invitees, PCC chiefs and CLP leaders who will visit each of the 119 Assembly constituencies of Telangana on the next day.

They will participate in the party programme on September 18, 2023 in the respective assembly segments allotted to each of them.

On September 18, apart from sitting MPs, all leaders will hold a 'Karyakarta meeting' and go door-to-door to spread awareness on the five guarantees and the "charge sheet" against the BRS government.

"In the afternoon, there will be a community lunch with influencers. The event will culminate with a march to prominent statues of Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar and Komaram Bheem in the constituency," he said.

In a post on X later, Venugopal said, "We are geared up for every fight! Make no mistake, the Congress is unstoppable!"

The meeting will be held under the leadership of Kharge and in the presence of Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former party chief Rahul Gandhi.

Kharge had on August 20 reconstituted the CWC, retaining the old guard, giving space to the young and including prominent G23 group leaders such as Shashi Tharoor and Anand Sharma, in the 84-member top decision-making body of the party.

The CWC has 39 regular members, 32 permanent invitees and 13 special invitees. These include 15 women and several new faces such as Sachin Pilot and Gourav Gogoi who are among the regular members.