NEW DELHI: Amid fresh disputes over the party’s leadership after the poor performance in Bihar, Congress on Friday formed three panels on economic affairs, foreign affairs and national security, relying on former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to lead them as he accommodated some of the G-23 dissidents. The panels are intended to help the head of Congress, Sonia Gandhi, and the party respond to current events.
Interestingly, the economy panel is made up of former finance minister P Chidambaram, while the foreign affairs panel is made up of Anand Sharma and Shashi Tharoor, in addition to being headed by Salman Khurshid. Sharma and Tharoor are signatories to the G-23 letter calling for a full-time leader to be available to take care of party business.
The foreign affairs panel, however, can be seen as part of a slight to the G-23 as the AICC’s foreign affairs department is headed by Anand Sharma and in the deal announced on Friday, Salman Khurshid is the coordinator. The national security committee includes the leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam, Nabi Azad, who is the main figure of the G-23, and veteran Veerappa Moily, who also signed the dissident letter.
These panels, which are to report to the president of Congress on important issues, come after the party formed a committee of advisers in August to help Sonia Gandhi with day-to-day affairs. Congress has decided to hold the AICC elections for the next party chief, as decided at the CWC meeting in August.
It must be seen whether these appointments somehow curb public comments from senior officials critical of the leadership, arguing that the top brass deny the party is in decline and facing a serious existential crisis.
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