From law replacing MGNREGA to upcoming Assembly polls: Agenda for Congress Working Committee meet on December 27

This will be the first meeting of the party’s highest decision-making body after the Bihar Assembly elections.

New Delhi: The Congress Working Committee (CWC) will meet on December 27 to discuss the emerging political situation in the country, including finalising its strategy to fight the new rural job guarantee law replacing MGNREGA. The meeting will also focus on elections to five states and union territories, besides analysing what went wrong in Bihar.

The first meeting of the party’s highest decision-making body after the Bihar Assembly elections results on November 14, in which the Congress as well as that of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc was decimated by Nitish Kumar-led NDA, will also evaluate the party’s organisation revamp programme announced in Belagavi a year ago.

Sources said the meeting will be held on December 27 at 10 am, a day before the party’s Foundation Day. At the meeting to be chaired by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, leaders like Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, KC Venugopal, Ajay Maken and others will be present.

One of the main thrusts of the meeting will be to design a protest against the ‘VB - G RAM G Bill 2025’, which replaced MGNREGA by changing it to a supply-driven scheme and putting financial burden on states. Already, the party has announced the first round of protests focussing on removing Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the law and other issues.

Sources said the CWC will also take the ‘vote chori’ campaign forward in which other issues like the rural job guarantee scheme would be weaved in. Rahul said that Modi government’s demonetisation, “wrong” GST and other contentious legislations were the result of a ‘vote chori’. There will also be an analysis on the second round of Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

With elections to West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry scheduled for April-May, the senior leaders will also firm up the strategy for the Assembly polls. Congress is upbeat in Kerala after the local body elections while it is in alliance with DMK in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. 

It is to be seen what will be Congress' strategy in West Bengal while in Assam, it is hoping to unseat the Himanta Biswas Sarma-led BJP government. There will also be discussion on the Bihar outcome with some leaders from the state likely to seek a review of its ties with RJD.

Issues like government “bulldozing” Bills in Parliament and its “mishandling” of air pollution are also among the issues that are likely to come up for debate in the day-long meeting.