UDAIPUR: Congress president Sonia Gandhi will form an advisory group of CWC members for discussion on political matters and challenges before the party, and will constitute a task force for internal reforms to prepare for 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Making the announcement to the delegates at the end of the three-day Chintan Shivir, the Congress chief made it clear that the advisory group "is not a collective decision-making body", but a forum she will chair to benefit from the advice of experienced party leaders.
The clarification appeared significant in view of the demand of the dissident G-23 bloc that there should be collective decision making in the party and that the Congress Parliamentary Board (CPB) should be revived. The formation of an advisory body is seen as a rebuff to call for restoration of CPB.
For the party struggling with electoral defeats, the AICC will set up a dedicated department for "election management" - a long felt need for brainstorming on strategy, campaign and alliances for the round-the-year poll cycle, instead of approaching each election episodically.
A national training institute will be set up for inhouse training in ideology and party viewpoint on important subjects.
As expected, Congress approved "one family one ticket", with the caveat that a second member can get the nomination after putting in five years in the party. Congress also announced "one man one post" and banned back to back tenures for office-bearers to "give chance to new people".
A tenure now will be followed by a cooling period of three years. These measures are designed to improve messaging among workers who resent the monopoly of leaders and families in the party units.