The Congress’ top leadership is meeting in Patna on Wednesday for the party’s first working committee session in Bihar in the post-Independence era, with deliberations centred on Assembly election strategy and intensifying its attack on the BJP over alleged “vote chori.”
The extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting is being attended by permanent and special invitees, the party’s chief ministers, Pradesh Congress Committee presidents, and Congress Legislature Party leaders.
Citing sources, news agency PTI reported that a couple of resolutions are expected to be passed during the deliberations with an eye on the upcoming Bihar polls.
The meeting began around 10.30 am at Sadaqat Ashram, with Congress leaders emphasising that this is the first time since Independence that the party has convened its top decision-making body in Bihar.
Ahead of the discussions, party president Mallikarjun Kharge unfurled the Congress flag at the state headquarters.
Among those present are Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, treasurer Ajay Maken, general secretaries KC Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, and Sachin Pilot, and Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Kumar.
The deliberations are focusing on Bihar, the Congress’ campaign blueprint for the assembly elections, preparations for future polls, and building pressure on the BJP over “vote chori”, PTI further added, citing sources.
They said the CWC is expected to send out a strong message on the issue, as well as against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
The meeting is taking place amid seat-sharing talks within the Mahagathbandhan alliance and follows Rahul Gandhi’s “Voter Adhikar Yatra” against “vote chori” and the revision exercise, which the party says has energised its cadre in Bihar. It also comes days after Gandhi’s second press conference on the issue.
The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha has accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting those who “destroyed democracy.” To buttress his charge, he has cited data from a Karnataka Assembly constituency to allege that the votes of Congress supporters were being systematically deleted.
The Election Commission has dismissed the allegations, calling them “incorrect and baseless.”
The Bihar assembly elections are expected to be held in November.
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