Top Congress leaders huddle at CWC meet in Patna today. What's on the agenda?

Bihar Elections 2025: Senior Congress leaders gathered in Patna today for the amm-important Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting being held in the run yp to the Bihar Assembly elections scheduled later this year.

The last meeting of the CWC, the highest decision-making body of the Congress party, held in Patna, the capital city of Bihar, was way back in 1940, seven years before India got its indpendence.

"The land of Bihar has consistently created new history, from Champaran to the present day. The policy and ideological decisions that the CWC will take under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge will prove similarly far-reaching," Congress MP Randeep Surjewala told news agency ANI underlining Bihar's historic role in shaping political discourse as he landed in Patna on Tuesday.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel are also attending the CWC meet.

The meeting takes place amid a nationwide agitation against alleged vote tampering, with a signature campaign underway across the country. The upcoming Bihar elections are expected to be a major topic of discussion, given the state's political significance. The meeting will also discuss a plan for a renewed pan-India campaign against vote theft.

Rahul Gandhi has been alleging ‘vote chori’ for quite some time now accusing the Election Commission of India of colluding with the ruling BJP in ‘stealing’ Congress votes in previous elections.

What is CWC?

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) is the highest executive committee of the Congress and has a final say in the decisions taken by the Grand Old Party. The CWC is comprises of the working president, the leader of the party and 23 other members. Out of these 23, 12 are elected by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and the remaining are nominated by the party president.

Who all are attending the CWC?

The CWC meeting will take place at Sadaqat Ashram, the Congress's state party headquarters in Patna. Among other leaders, the meeting is expected to be attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi, Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee president Rajesh Ram, the party's Bihar in-charge Krishna Allavaru, and Congress Legislature Party leader Shakeel Ahmed Khan, among others.

"We are doing the CWC meeting in Patna, the meeting is not related to elections... we are doing this very frequently. There are many issues to be discussed... there's a national agitation against vote theft. A signature campaign is also underway across the country... therefore, we have to also discuss this apart from many other political issues. Of course, the Bihar elections will be a topic of discussion..." Congress leader KC Venugopal told ANI.

The party's state in-charge, Krishna Allavaru, said that the party is set to discuss multiple issues, including alleged 'vote chori' (vote theft) and others such as increasing crime, unemployment, and inflation, which are plaguing the state.

"Congress will definitely talk about Bihar in Bihar, but also will talk about the nation in the state. There are many issues to be addressed in Bihar, unemployment, inflation, increasing crime, crimes against women, also the ceasefire or surrender in front of Trump," he said.

‘Vote Chori, Trump Tariffs on the agenda’

Bihar Congress president Rajesh Kumar on Tuesday said that state, national and international-level issues, including 'vote theft' and imposition of tariffs by the Donald Trump administration of the US, were likely to be discussed at the CWC meeting.

Kumar spoke to journalists at the airport here ahead of the arrival of top party leaders, including All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge, general secretaries Deepa Das Munshi and Sayeed Nasir Hussain, and former Lok Sabha speaker Meria Kumar.

The Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) president bristled at the BJP-led NDA's charge that the CWC meeting "has always been held in Delhi, but now scheduled in the Bihar capital as a tactic ahead of upcoming assembly polls in the state".

The Wednesday's meeting is an extended CWC meet which implies that it will also be attended by state unit chiefs and other senior leaders who have been invited, Kuamr said.

"At CWC meetings, we pass resolutions after holding deliberations on issues of state, national and international levels. On Wednesday, we will be doing the same. The topics of discussion would include 'vote chori' and hefty tariffs imposed on India by Trump," the Bihar Congress president added.

Senior BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain mocked the opposition party for holding the meeting in Patna.

"Earlier, CWC meetings took place in Delhi where the Congress has been scoring a zero in elections. It will meet the same fate in the upcoming assembly polls in Bihar," he said.

Earlier, Union minister Chirag Paswan had alleged that the Congress was indulging in "pressure tactics ahead of assembly polls in Bihar".

However, senior RJD leader and Lok Sabha MP from Buxar, Sudhakar Singh, dismissed the allegations of opposition leaders and said, "The CWC meeting in Patna will send across a positive message that will benefit not just the Congress, but the entire INDIA bloc."

(With agency inputs)