New Delhi, May 24: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday formed three groups — on political affairs for guidance on key issues, Task Force-2024 to implement the Udaipur ‘Nav Sankalp’ declaration and evolve the party’s strategy for 2024 elections and another to coordinate the October 2 ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’.
While Rahul Gandhi and two prominent members of the G23 — Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma — are part of the political affairs group, senior leaders P Chidambaram and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are in the Task Force-2024.
Poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu, a former associate of Prashant Kishor, is also part of the Task Force-2024 that will chalk out the party’s future poll strategy and implement the decisions of the Udaipur conclave. While Kishor had refused to join the Congress after he was offered to do so, Kanugolu became a member of the party.
G-23 is a group of dissenting Congress leaders who have demanded an organisational overhaul and have been vocal about their demand.
Sonia Gandhi has also set up a group to coordinate the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ planned from Kanyakumari to Kashmir from Gandhi Jayanti.
“Following the Udaipur Nav Sankalp Shivir, the Congress president has constituted a Political Affairs Group that will be presided over by her, a Task-Force-2024 and a Central Planning Group for the coordination of the “Bharat Jodo Yatra”, an official communication from the party said.
The Political Affairs Group, headed by Sonia Gandhi, comprises Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ambika Soni, Digvijaya Singh, Anand Sharma, K C Venugopal and Jitendra Singh.
The members of the Task Force-2024 are Chidambaram, Mukul Wasnik, Jairam Ramesh, K C Venugopal, Ajay Maken, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Randeep Singh Surjewala and Sunil Kanugolu.
“Each member of the task force shall be assigned specific tasks related to organization, communications and media, outreach, finance and election Management.
“They shall have designated teams which will be notified subsequently,” the statement said, adding the Task Force will also follow up on the implementation of the Udaipur Nav Sankalp declaration.
The members of the task force also met at the party headquarters and held its first meeting on Tuesday to chalk out its course.
The task force will be the body that will bring about organisational changes as decided at the three-day brainstorming session of the Congress in Rajasthan’s Udaipur.
Sonia Gandhi, in her concluding remarks at Udaipur, had mentioned setting up these groups to ensure the implementation of the decisions taken at the Chintan Shivir.