Congress President Sonia Gandhi chairs the AICC General Secretaries meeting at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Tuesday, October 26, 2021.
In the marathon meeting of the Congress party that lasted for nearly four hours, a major issue that brought every Congressman on the same page is the amendment of the Congress constitution.
The present constitution of the party was written in the 1920s and some of its clauses seem impractical in today’s world and this is exactly what was raised by leaders of some northeastern states at the AICC headquarters meeting to discuss the party’s membership drive . Upcoming organizational and assembly elections in five states.
The Congress constitution tells its members not to drink alcohol and wear khadi which may have seemed quite logical in the 1920s, however, much has changed in India since then, but the grand old party constitution still has some of its own. Sections need to be amended. It is more adaptable in modern India.
In today’s meeting, even former Congress party president Rahul Gandhi talked about why wearing khadi was made mandatory when the constitution was written, it was an attempt to encourage khadi produced in India and not any foreigners. Had to eliminate the fabric, however, times changed. In fact, in today’s meeting, some leaders said lightly that ‘Khadi is more expensive than other clothes’.
According to sources present in the meeting, it was agreed that the party needs to amend its constitution and a committee should be formed to review and amend the constitution. The senior leadership of the party also agreed that the party needed to make these amendments.
read also | My rival will neither win votes nor hearts of people: Amarinder a day before his party launch
Congress President Sonia Gandhi presided over a meeting of AICC General Secretaries/In-Charge and State Congress Committee Presidents at the party headquarters in New Delhi.
The last amendment in the constitution of the Congress was done in the year 2010 when the term of the President of the party was increased from 3 years to 5 years. A committee consisting of stalwarts like Pranab Mukherjee, Janardan Dwivedi, Ahmed Patel and Digvijay Singh was constituted to review the constitution, which recommended certain amendments at the 2010 AICC session held in Burari.
The Congress constitution empowers the CWC and the party president to make any amendments to the constitution, however, any amendments need to be first passed in the CWC and then ratified in the AICC session.
Congress sources say that amendments to some clauses were discussed during the tenure of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, however, the party felt that it would create “unnecessary controversy”, so these amendments were never made.
Now again the party leaders feel that there is a need to make this amendment in the constitution to bring the youth in their side.
read also | ‘He can shoot me, can’t do anything else’: Nitish Kumar’s scathing reaction to Lalu’s ‘immersion’ remark
.