No place for Shashi Tharoor as Kharge forms 47-member Steering Committee in place of CWC

According to reports, the interim panel headed by Kharge would take the place of the Congress Working Committee till a new CWC is formed after Kharge’s election is ratified at the party plenary.

Before the formation of the new panel, all CWC members and office bearers of the party tendered their resignations to enable the new party chief to choose his own team.

The Steering Committee members include senior party leaders like Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, AK Antony, Ambika Soni, Anand Sharma, K C Venugopal, Randeep Surjewala and Digvijaya Singh.

Earlier today, Mallikarjun Kharge chaired a meeting of the party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) to finalise candidates for the Gujarat assembly polls. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi was also present at the meeting.

Three meetings of Congress screening committee have already been held for Gujarat assembly polls. The Congress is seeking to oust the BJP government in Gujarat and is also facing challenge from Aam Aadmi Party which is seeking to establish itself in the state. The BJP has been continuously in power in Gujarat from 1998.

The assembly polls in Gujarat would be held before the end of the year.