Rahul Gandhi. (PTI file photo)

NEW DELHI: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday announced his long-awaited Congress Working Committee (CWC), bringing to the fore the party GenNext whom he had earlier backed as central ministers in the UPA or as office-bearers in the organisation while veterans Digvijaya Singh and Janardan Dwivedi were notable among those missing out.

While Rahul retained some key veterans like Ahmed Patel and A K Antony, who were confidants to mother and former party president Sonia Gandhi, they were anyway expected to be around to play crucial roles in organisational and parliamentary strategy. But the list announced on Tuesday is a big leg-up for young guns, many of whom have been named as permanent invitees, with leaders like Rajeev Satav, Gaurav Gogoi, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitendra Singh, R P N Singh, K C Venuopal and Randeep Surjewala making the cut.

The new CWC will hold its first meeting on Sunday to discuss party strategy. All state presidents and CLP leaders have also been invited for the brainstorming. The 51-member apex decision-making body comprises former PM Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Ahmed Patel, Motilal Vora, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge, A K Antony, Anand Sharma, Ashok Gehlot, Kumari Selja, Mukul Wasnik and P Chidambaram.

It also has former chief ministers Oommen Chandy, Tarun Gogoi, Siddaramaiah and Harish Rawat, all of them deposed after 2014, as also Sheila Dikshit. The special invitees include younger leaders like Deepender Hooda and Jitin Prasada, who are not in the permanent invitee category. The presence of young faces gives a fresh feel to the CWC. Insiders said the committee reflected the future vision for the party under the Gandhi scion, identifying leaders who would move up once the old guard fades. Young Rajasthan leader and former MLA-MP Raghuveer Meena has also been drafted in as has Arun Yadav.

In a first, the CWC will also include presidents of Youth Congress and NSUI, besides other front organisations like Mahila Congress, Seva Dal and INTUC. While the committee is divided into three groups with 23 members in the main body with two vacancies, 18 ‘permanent invitees’ and 10 ‘special invitees’, observers view it as one consolidated committee. The young leaders — either former Union ministers or those close to Rahul — are mostly present in the latter two categories.

The new CWC marks the end of the reign of several veterans who dominated the party structure during the UPA decade. Among notable omissions are Janardan Dwivedi, Digvijaya Singh, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Karan Singh and Mohan Prakash. Digvijaya has been drafted in the Madhya Pradesh unit as head of the ‘coordination committee’ for end-year elections and is viewed as an important part of the campaign strategy.

Meanwhile, former Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat was appointed as AICC general secretary in-charge of Assam. He replaced C P Joshi, who may now get an organisational assignment for Rajasthan elections.

