The Congress Working Committee (CWC) will meet in the National Capital on October 9 to discuss current political developments, including the Bihar caste survey’s findings, and the upcoming Assembly elections, sources said on October 5.
The party’s highest decision-making body is meeting just days after the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government released the findings of its caste survey, triggering a national debate. The top leadership of the Congress, including former party chief Rahul Gandhi, have made a strong pitch on behalf of other backward classes (OBCs), and have argued that every community or caste group should get rights in proportion to their share of the population.
This will also be the first CWC meeting since the law to reserve seats for women in legislative bodies was passed during the Special Session of Parliament held between September 18 and 21. Though the party supported the law’s passage in Parliament, it has been arguing for a separate quota for OBC women, along with reservations for women from Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SCs/STs), a complete U-turn from its 2010 position.
The upcoming Assembly elections in five States will also come up for discussion, though the CWC already discussed its electoral strategies for the poll-bound States at its last meeting in Hyderabad on September 16 and 17.
The party is seeking to retain power in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, while hoping to evict the Bharatiya Janata Party in Madhya Pradesh, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi in Telangana, and the Mizo National Front in Mizoram.
The CWC, which will meet at the All India Congress Committee headquarters for the first time after being reconstituted, is likely to follow up on the discussions and decisions taken at the Hyderabad meeting. The Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled States are likely to join the deliberations, sources said.
