Chavan to head Congress panel to study election debacle; Azad to head Covid-19 task force

The Congress and Rahul Gandhi have been finding fault with the Centre's response to the pandemic

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday appointed Maharashtra Minister Ashok Chavan as the head of a five-member committee to study the recent Assembly election results and senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad as the head of the party’s 13-member task force on Covid-19 relief.

The decision to set up both the committees was taken at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee on Monday, which discussed the pandemic and the election results and decided to postpone the election for the post of the party president.

Also read: Rahul Gandhi attacks PM Modi on Covid-19 situation, asks him to remove rose-tinted glasses

The Chavan committee, which has been asked to submit the report within two weeks, will have Salman Khurshid, Manish Tewari, Vincent H Pala and Jothi Mani, who is considered close to the former party president Rahul Gandhi.

Azad, who led the G-23 that wrote a letter to the party chief seeking clarity on the leadership question, will head the Covid-19 Task Force, which is assigned to coordinate the activities of the Congress and has Priyanka Gandhi as one of the members.

Besides Azad, another G-23 leader who found a place in the task force is Mukul Wasnik. Tewari, who is part of the committee looking into election results, was also part of the G-23 leaders.

The members of the task force also include senior leaders Ambika Soni, Pawan Bansal, KC Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Randeep Surjewala, Manish Chatrath, Dr Ajoy Kumar, Pawan Khera, Gurdeep Singh Sappal and Youth Congress president B V Srinivas.

Also read: Congress decides to postpone party president election in view of Covid-19 situation

Srinivas, who is coordinating relief work across the country under the aegis of Youth Congress, has won praise for his work and several leaders had mentioned his work in Monday's meeting.

The Congress and Rahul Gandhi have been finding fault with the Centre's response and the appointment of Azad, who is now perceived as one who is against Rahul's return as party chief, is considered significant. Azad, who has vociferously demanded inner-party election, was on Monday supportive of the idea of postponing organisational polls due to Covid-19 when Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot suggested it in the CWC meeting.

Also read: Shun personal agenda, atone for mistakes in Covid-19 handling: Congress tells PM Modi

The choice of Jothi Mani in the committee to study the election debacle is also curiously watched as she is one of the leaders handpicked by Rahul.

Questions have been raised about Rahul Gandhi after his vigorous campaigns in Kerala and Assam ahead of the Assembly elections 2021 did not yield any fruitful results for the Congress.