CWC authorises Rahul Gandhi to forge alliances with like-minded parties

The extended CWC on Sunday authorised Congress president Rahul Gandhi to forge an alliance with like-minded parties for the 2019 Lok Sabha election to take on the BJP.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the newly-constituted Congress Working Committee (CWC), Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) members from various states.

The party also authorised Gandhi to constitute a committee to work out alliances with various national and regional parties to form a grand national alliance.

Thirty-five to 40 leaders spoke at today's meeting where they all stressed that the Congress should play a lead role in forging an anti-BJP front.

Some leaders said Gandhi being the leader of the principal opposition party should be the face of the national alliance.

Asked about party leaders wanting Gandhi to be the face of the alliance, senior Congress leader Ambika Soni said, "Naturally, he is the leader of the main national (opposition) party and we would want our leader to be the face of the opposition alliance."

Senior party leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram gave a detailed presentation on how the party could be strengthened with the help of allies in various states.

Sources said that Chidambaram highlighted that the Congress is strong in 12 states and with the help of its allies, it can forge a formidable front for the next general election.

Earlier addressing the CWC, Rahul said the expansion of the party vote base was one of the party's biggest tasks. 

''Expansion of our party vote base is one of our biggest tasks. In each constituency, we have to find people who have not voted for us and develop a strategy to reach out to them and win back their trust,'' Rahul Gandhi said during Congress Working Committee meeting.

Describing the revamped Congress Working Committee (CWC) as a bridge between the past, present and future, Gandhi asked party men to rise up and fight for India's oppressed.

''We have tried to strike to a balance between the youth and experience in the CWC. The central idea behind the formation of this CWC is to make it inclusive, diverse and dynamic and representative,'' he said.