Congress Forms 3 Groups To Decide Future Course of Party; Includes 4 G23 Members

Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Mukul Wasnik, and Shashi Tharoor were included in the groups formed by Sonia Gandhi.

Sonia Gandhi. 

(Photo: PTI)

Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday, 24 May, formed three groups to chart the future course of the party, and included four members, namely Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Shashi Tharoor, and Mukul Wasnik, of the Group of 23 (G23) dissenting party leaders in different groups.

The three groups which were formed by Gandhi included a Task Force-2024 to implement the Udaipur 'Nav Sankalp' declaration; a political affairs group for guidance on vital matters; and another group to coordinate the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra,' scheduled to be held on 2 October, PTI reported.

G23 leaders Azad and Sharma were made a part of the group on political affairs along with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Wasnik was made part of the Task Force-2024, and Tharoor was included in the group to coordinate the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra.'

Political Affairs Group Headed by Party Chief Sonia

The political affairs group, which will be headed by the party chief herself, will also include senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Ambika Soni, KC Venugopal, Digvijaya Singh, and Jitendra Singh.

On the other hand, the Task Force-2024 will include Wasnik, P Chidambaram, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Jairam Ramesh, Ajay Maken, Randeep Singh Surjewala, KC Venugopal, and Sunil Kanugolu.

Venugopal shared photos of an informal meeting of the newly constituted Task Force - 2024, held on Tuesday at the Congress party headquarters.

He said in a tweet, "It is our Nav Sankalp to ensure that the rejuvenated spirit of reformed politics takes our nation further on the path to progress."

“Each member of the Task Force shall be assigned specific tasks related to organization, communications and media, outreach, finance and election Management," PTI quoted an official communication from the party as saying.

The 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' will be undertaken by the party from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, and will begin on the birth anniversary of MK Gandhi.

The group for the yatra will include Tharoor, Digvijaya Singh, Sachin Pilot, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Jothi Mani, Jitu Patwari, Saleem Ahmed, KJ George, and Pradyut Bordoloi.

The Congress also said that all members of the task force and chiefs of the party's frontal organisations will be considered ex-officio members of the central groups.

(With inputs from PTI.)