NEW DELHI: Mallikarjun Kharge, who took over as Congress president on Wednesday, formed a 47-member interim panel to function as the Congress Working Committee, the apex decision-making body, till a new CWC is formed after his election is ratified at the party plenary.
The steering committee headed by Kharge includes Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram, Salman Khurshid, K C Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh and Digvijay Singh, among others. Curiously, Shahi Tharoor, who lost to Kharge in the presidential polls, found no place in the panel.
However, Anand Sharma, who is part of the rebel group known as the G23, was accommodated. Earlier in the day, the 80-year-old leader’s coronation ceremony was attended by senior party leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Ashok Gehlot.
In his first address after the ceremony, Kharge signalled his resolve to bring in reforms in the party. Addressing members at the AICC headquarters, he said he would implement the party’s ‘Udaipur declaration’, which suggested that 50% of party posts be reserved for those under 50 years of age.
He also pledged to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party and break the circle of lies and hatred. “The BJP and RSS want Congress-free India but we will not let it happen,” he added.