Sonia Gandhi sets up key Congress task force panels to prepare for 2024 polls

AICC general secretary KC Venugopal, and former party chief Rahul Gandhi will head the political affairs group, which will have two G-23 members Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma, indicating that they will now play an important role in drafting the party’s future course of action.

New Delhi: Getting into action post the Udaipur chintan shivir Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday announced three key party panels, including a political affairs group, a task force for 2024 Lok Sabha polls and a panel to coordinate the proposed Bharat Jodo yatra starting October.

According to an official release issued by AICC general secretary organization KC Venugopal, former party chief Rahul Gandhi will head the political affairs group, which will also have Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Ambika Soni, Digvijay Singh, Venugopal, and Jitendra Singh.

The political affairs group will also have two G-23 members Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma, indicating that they will now play an important role in drafting the party’s future course of action. The task force for 2024 is headed by former finance minister P Chidambaram and will have members like Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Jairam Ramesh, Ajay Maken, Randeep Surjewala and poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu.

“Each member of the task force shall be assigned specific tasks related to organization, communications and media, outreach, finance and election management. They shall have designated teams that will be notified subsequently. The task force will follow up on the Nav Sankalp Declaration approved in Udaipur and the reports of the six groups on various issues,” said Venugopal.

The central planning group for coordination of the proposed Bharat Jodo nationwide yatra is headed by veteran Digvijay Singh and will have members like Shashi Tharoor, Sachin Pilot, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Jothi Mani, KG George, Pradyut Bordoloi, Saleem Ahmed and Jitu Patwari.

As per the Udaipur Declaration, the party has already decided to hold chintan shivirs in the states to guide the leaders on the implantation of the key decisions taken at the chintan shivir, including having half of all office bearers under 50 years of age, having a fixed term of five years, setting up an insight group, an assessment group and revamping the party’s communication system.

State-level shivirs have been planned on June 1 and 2 to take the process forward across the states where the AICC in-charge will hold consultations with the state leaders on implementing the Udaipur Declaration. The plan has been facing some resistance from the seniors who have been working in the organization for decades and may not be able to adjust to the changes in the short term.

The proposed nationwide yatra starting October 2, Gandhi Jayanti, aims to revive the grand old party and help it reconnect with the masses over issues affecting the people. It will also help the party to mobilize support against the ruling BJP.