All the members of CWC resigned as soon as Mallikarjun Kharge became the President
Soon after Mallikarjun Kharge took over as the new President of the Congress, all the members, general secretaries and in-charges of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) resigned from their posts to help him form the new team.
Congress has a tradition of resigning all the office bearers of the party after the new president is elected. All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary KC Venugopal said, “All the members of the CWC, AICC general secretaries and in-charge have submitted their resignations to the Congress President.”
As per the Congress party’s constitution, Kharge’s election will be confirmed at the party’s plenary session, which is likely to be held in March-April this year. The CWC, which is the top decision-making body of the Congress, will be reconstituted by Kharge immediately after the plenary session. According to the party constitution, 11 members of the CWC would be nominated and 12 members would be elected. In addition, the leader of the party in Parliament and the Congress President will also be members of the Working Committee.
However, until Kharge’s election is confirmed, a new Steering Committee will be constituted by the new party chief, which will act as the CWC till the plenary session. Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who lost to Mallikarjun Kharge in the race for the post of Congress President, has pledged his full cooperation and support to the new All India Congress Committee (AICC) chief in taking the party forward.
Shashi Tharoor pledges to support Kharge
Kharge was formally handed over the election paper on Wednesday and with this he took charge at the AICC headquarters here. Tharoor, who attended the event, tweeted, “Gathered for a brief conversation after Kharge ji sat in his new office. Pledged to extend my full support and cooperation to take the Congress forward.”
He also posted a picture in which he is seen sitting with Kharge and Sonia Gandhi at an event organized at the party headquarters here. Earlier, Tharoor congratulated Kharge on taking over the official responsibility of Congress President and wished him success.
Kharge, 80, defeated his rival Tharoor, 66, by over 84 per cent votes in the presidential election. Kharge got 7,897 votes out of 9,385 in the Delegate (Electorate) of the Pradesh Congress Committee, while Tharoor got 1,072 votes.
