Coalition push, economic plan focus of Congress Plenary Session 2023

The Congress’s drafting committee on political affairs will discuss on Friday how it will work for a “pragmatic approach” involving “all like-minded parties” to evolve “a common workable programme to defeat RSS-BJP (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-Bharatiya Janata Party)”, said a senior leader who is a member of the committee.

The leader added on the condition of anonymity that party president Mallikarjun Kharge’s announcement in Nagaland that the Congress will lead the Opposition coalition “will now mean that the AICC (All India Congress Committee) plenary will adopt a similar line.”

The draft resolution for the session may also include making “opposition unity of secular and socialist forces a hallmark of Congress party,” said the leader cited above.

The leader, however, added that the draft will be extensively discussed before a resolution is framed.

Party leaders have already indicated that the Congress, as in the past, preferred state-level alliances with its constituents. “We have alliances in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Tripura. We are hopeful that these pacts will continue in the Lok Sabha polls,” said a second party leader.

Last week, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said at an event that he was ready to forge greater Opposition unity and was “waiting for the Congress’s signal”.

Party leaders said a possible Opposition alliance — which was prominently discussed in Pachmarhiand Shimla conclaves of the party in 1998 and 2003, respectively — will be a key agenda in this plenary. Last week, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal assured that the party had a clear-cut initiative to reduce the BJP’s electoral footprint and forge a wider alliance.

The panel on economic affairs will discuss a new economic plan or a set of proposals that aims to look beyond the reforms of 1991 and put more emphasis on ease of living, to gauge the economic prospects of the people. “The Modi government is looking at a 5 trillion-dollar economy. We look at it as a wrong approach. We will discuss a new economic plan. We want growth to be measured by improved standard of living and labour benefits,” said the second leader.

A third Congress leader who is a member of the economic affairs panel maintained that the 1991 reforms had done their work. “We now have to look beyond the liberalisation process and invoke other parameters and a new vision to strengthen the economy. The resolution will reflect what the Congress party will promise in 2024 on the economic front,” he said, requesting anonymity.

The constitution amendment committee will consider a proposal to enhance reservation for women, Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), and introduce quotas for young people at all levels of the organisation. The party had called for a 50-under-50 formula at its Udaipur conclave last year to give 50% seats to people below 50 years of age. The decision is yet to be implemented.

The party constitution already provides for 33% seats in different committees for women and “not less than 20% of seats” in different committees for SCs, STs, other backward classes and minorities. A fourth leader, a member of the committee on the constitution, said, “If all the proposals for reservations are accepted, the quota might cross 50%. While the Supreme Court has capped the quota in government jobs and education institutes to 50%, in a political party, no such cap applies. ”

The steering committee of the plenary, comprising all Congress Working Committee (CWC) members, will meet on Friday morning to discuss the all-important issue of whether elections should be held for CWC, the party’s highest executive body. Many leaders said they were not in favour of an election. A fifth leader added, “It will depend on Rahul Gandhi. If he supports the demand for an election, then election must be held.”