After a nudge by interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi for the duration of the Congress Working Committee meet, the party stated it has set up two panels to look into the party’s defeat in current elections and to coordinate the organisation’s Covid-19 relief activities. Gandhi also signalled at reconciliation by which includes senior leaders in the panels who are component of the G-23 group. It involves Ghulam Nabi Azad, Manish Tewari and Mukul Wasnik.
While Ghulam Nabi Azad will head the 13-member panel formed to look into Covid relief activities, Tewari has been integrated in a 5-member group headed by former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan to evaluate the final results of the Assembly elections. For Azad, this is his initial party assignment right after retirement from Rajya Sabha.
By which includes senior leaders like Tewari and Azad in crucial panels, the Congress leadership hopes to mitigate probable attacks from the G-23. Addressing the CWC meet, Sonia Gandhi stated that the Congress demands to fully grasp why in Kerala and Assam, the party failed to dislodge incumbent governments and why in West Bengal, the party drew a full blank. “These will yield uncomfortable lessons, but if we don’t face reality, if we don’t look facts in face, we won’t draw the right lessons,” Sonia Gandhi has stated.
During the meeting, senior leaders which includes Azad, Anand Sharma and Digvijaya Singh questioned the party’s choice to ally with the AIUDF in Assam and the ISF in West Bengal.
Sharma had recommended that any alliance, be it at state level or national level, need to be finalized only right after due deliberations with involvement of senior leadership. Sharma even stated that introspection and evaluation have turn out to be taboo words in the party and stated that when ideas for introspection are offered, they need to not be taken otherwise. He stated that the Congress need to not turn out to be intolerant like the BJP.
The COVID panel headed by Azad involves Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Youth Congress president B V Srinivas, Ambika Soni, Mukul Wasnik, Pawan Bansal, K C Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Randeep Surjewala, Manish Chatrath, Ajoy Kumar, Pawan Khera and Gurdeep Singh Sappal as its members.