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{{short description|Executive committee of the Indian National Congress (INC)}}
{{Indian National Congress sidebar}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2019}}
The '''Congress Working Committee''' ('''CWC''') is the [[executive committee]] of the [[Indian National Congress]]. It was formed in December 1920 at Nagpur session of INC which was headed by C. Vijayaraghavachariar. It typically consists of fifteen members elected from the [[All India Congress Committee]]. It is headed by the Working President.

[[File:Gandhi Patel 1940.jpg|right|thumb|200px|[[Mahatma Gandhi]] attends a Congress Working Committee meeting at [[Anand Bhavan]], [[Allahabad]]; [[Vallabhbhai Patel]] to the left, [[Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit]] to the right, January 1940.]]
The Working Committee has had different levels of power in the party at different times. In the period prior to [[Partition of India|Indian independence]] in 1947, the Working Committee was the centre of power, and the Working President was frequently more active than the Congress President. In the period after 1967, when the Congress Party split for the first time (between factions loyal to [[Indira Gandhi]] and those led by the Syndicate of regional bosses including [[Kamaraj]], [[Prafulla Chandra Sen]], [[Ajoy Mukherjee]], and [[Morarji Desai]]), the power of the Working Committee declined; but Indira Gandhi's triumph in 1971 led to a re-centralisation of power away from the states and the All-India Congress Committee and caused the Working Committee in Delhi to once again be the paramount decision-making body of the party.<ref>"Towards a More Competitive Party System in India", Ram Joshi and Kirtidev Desai, ''Asian Survey'', Vol. 18, No. 11. (Nov., 1978), pp. 1091-1116.</ref> The centralised nature of Congress decision making has since caused observers in the states to informally describe instructions from [[Delhi]] as coming from the "High Command".

==Composition==
'''President'''
{|class="sortable wikitable"
|-
!style="text-align:center;"|Name
! style="text-align:center;" |Portrait
! style="text-align:center;" |Position in government
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Sonia Gandhi]]
|[[File:Sonia Gandhi 2014 (cropped).jpg|100px]]
|MP & Ex Leader of Opposition Loksabha
|}
'''Members'''<ref>https://www.inc.in/congress-working-committee/members</ref>
{|class="sortable wikitable"
|-
!style="text-align:center;"|Member
! style="text-align:center;" |Portrait
! style="text-align:center;" | Position in government
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Rahul Gandhi]]
|[[File:Rahul Gandhi (portrait crop).jpg|75px]]
|Member of Parliament
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Priyanka Vadra|Priyanka Gandhi Vadra]]
|[[File:Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (6).jpg|75px]]
| General Secretary
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Manmohan Singh]]
|[[File:Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in March 2014.jpg|75px]]
|
* Member of Parliament
* Former [[Prime Minister of India]]
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[A. K. Antony]]
|[[File:A. K. Antony.jpg|75px]]
|Member of Parliament
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[P. Chidambaram]]
|[[File:P. Chidambaram.jpg|75px]]
|Member of Parliament
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Mallikarjun Kharge]]
|
|[[Leader of the Opposition (India)|Leader of the Opposition]], [[Rajya Sabha]]
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Ghulam Nabi Azad]]
|
|
*Former MP
*Former [[Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir]]
*Former [[Leader of the Opposition (India)|Leader of the Opposition]], [[Rajya Sabha]]
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Ambika Soni]]
|
|Member of Parliament
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Anand Sharma]]
|
|Member of Parliament
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Harish Rawat]]
|[[File:HarishRawat.jpg|75px]]
|
* Former [[Chief Minister of Uttarakhand]]
* Former [[Union Council of Ministers|Union Minister of India]]
* Former [[Member of Parliament (India)|Member of Parliament]]
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[K.C Venugopal]]
|
|Member of Parliament
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Mukul Wasnik]]
|
|Ex Union Minister
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Oommen Chandy]]
|
|Former [[Chief Minister of Kerala]]
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Ajay Maken]]
|
|Former Member of Parliament
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Meira Kumar]]
|
|Former [[Speaker of Lok Sabha]]
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Jitendra Singh (Congress politician)|Jitendra Singh]]
|
|Former Union Minister
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Tariq Anwar (politician)|Tariq Anwar]]
|
|Former Member of Parliament
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Gaikhangam Gangmei]]
|
|Former Deputy Chief Minister, Manipur
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Raghuveer Meena]]
|
|Former Member of Parliament
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Lal Thanhawla|Dr Lal Thanhawla]]
|[[File:Lal_Thanhawla.jpg|75px]]
|Former [[List of chief ministers of Mizoram|Chief Minister of Mizoram]]
|-
|
|}

==Permanent Invitees==
<ref>https://www.inc.in/en/congress-working-committee/permanent-invitees</ref>
{|class="sortable wikitable"
|-
!style="text-align:center;"|Member
! style="text-align:center;" | party Position
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Digvijaya Singh]]
|MP
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury]]
|MP
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Jairam Ramesh]]
|MP
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Salman Khurshid]]
|Ex MP
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Avinash Pandey]]
|Ex MP
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[K. H. Muniyappa]]
|Ex MP
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Pramod Tiwari]]
|MP
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Tariq Hameed Karra]]
|Ex MP
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Pawan Kumar Bansal]]
|Ex MP
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Rajni Patil]]
|Ex MP
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[P. L. Punia]]
|MP
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[R. P. N. Singh]]
|Ex Union Minister
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Shaktisinh Gohil]]
|[[Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha| MP]]
|- style="text-align:left; backgronund:#fff;"
|[[Rajeev Shukla]]
|Ex MP
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[ Dinesh Gundu Rao]]
|MLA
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Manicka Tagore ]]
|MP
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[A. Chellakumar]]
|MP
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Ajoy Kumar]]
|Ex MP
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[H. K. Patil]]
|MLA
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Devender Yadav]]
|Ex MLA
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|Vivek Bansal
|
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|Manish Chatrath
|
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Bhakta Charan Das]]
|Ex Union Minister
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|Kuljit Singh Nagra
|
|}

==Special Invitees==
<ref>https://www.inc.in/en/congress-working-committee/special-invitees</ref>
{|class="sortable wikitable"
|-
!style="text-align:center;"|Member
! style="text-align:center;" | party Position
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[G. Sanjeeva Reddy]]
|President, [[INTUC]]
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Neeraj Kundan]]
|President, [[NSUI]]
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Srinivas BV]]
|President, [[Indian Youth Congress|IYC]]
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|Lalji Desai
|Chief Organiser ,Seva Dal
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Deepender Singh Hooda|Depender Hooda]]
|MP
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Kuldeep Bishnoi]]
|MLA
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|[[Chinta Mohan]]
|Ex-MP
|- style="text-align:left; background:#fff;"
|Sachin Rao
|Training Incharge
|}

==Criticism==

The Congress has not held internal elections to CWC for nearly 20 years and last elections were held in 1998.<ref>{{cite news|archive-date= 12 August 2019|url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/nobody-but-rahul-says-congress-leader-whose-father-ran-vs-sonia-gandhi-1759057|url-status= live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190812004128/https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/nobody-but-rahul-says-congress-leader-whose-father-ran-vs-sonia-gandhi-1759057|title=Nobody But Rahul, Says Congress Leader Whose Father Ran vs Sonia Gandhi|access-date=23 August 2020}}</ref> In 2017 Election Commission ordered it to hold internal elections<ref>{{cite news |title=Election Commission Tells Congress to Hold Internal Elections by June 30 |url=https://www.news18.com/news/politics/election-commission-tells-congress-to-hold-internal-elections-by-june-30-1342854.html|access-date =23 August 2020}}</ref> but as of 2020 no elections were held.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/ec-can-freeze-congress-symbol-initiate-action-party-remains-leaderless |title= EC can freeze Congress symbol or initiate action if party remains leaderless|author =Pankaj Vohra|date=August 8, 2020|access-date =23 August 2020}}</ref> When Congress was trying to forge an alliance with ideologically opposite [[Shiv Sena]] in Maharashtra in 2019, Congress leader [[Sanjay Nirupam]] publicly urged Sonia Gandhi to dissolve the CWC, saying "they cannot be trusted anymore."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/congress-defamed-rahul-gandhi-should-return-to-lead-sanjay-nirupam-after-maharashtra-twist-2137334|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200206174034/https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/congress-defamed-rahul-gandhi-should-return-to-lead-sanjay-nirupam-after-maharashtra-twist-2137334|archive-date = 6 February 2020|title = Congress "Defamed", Rahul Gandhi Should Return to Lead: Sanjay Nirupam After Maharashtra Twist}}</ref>
<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.news18.com/news/politics/old-grudge-unfulfilled-demands-why-rahul-gandhi-remained-absent-from-congresss-meet-on-delhi-riots-2516309.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200226123542/https://www.news18.com/news/politics/old-grudge-unfulfilled-demands-why-rahul-gandhi-remained-absent-from-congresss-meet-on-delhi-riots-2516309.html|archive-date = 26 February 2020|title = Old Grudge, Unfulfilled Demand: Why Rahul Gandhi Remained Absent from Cong's Meet on Delhi Riots|date = 26 February 2020}}</ref> A paper by [[Observer Research Foundation]] calls a large number of CWC members "unprincipled, opportunists and self-serving individuals for whom self-interest is paramount."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/congress-moving-towards-extinction-54571/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200314154627/https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/congress-moving-towards-extinction-54571/|archive-date=14 March 2020|title=Congress moving towards extinction?}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Indian National Congress]]
* [[All India Congress Committee]]
* [[Pradesh Congress Committee]]

==References==
<references />

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160118225437/http://inc.in/organization/2/CWC Official All India Congress Committee website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090831055222/http://www.congress.org.in/ Official Indian National Congress website]

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[[Category:Indian National Congress]]
[[Category:Executive committees of political parties]]

Congress Working Committee - Revision history

Delinker at 14:31, 25 July 2023