- Congress Working Committee meets in Patna, 85 years after Ramgarh session in 1940
- 1940 Ramgarh session committed Congress to Constituent Assembly for free India
- Today's Meeting held at historic Sadaqat Ashram, site of freedom struggle leaders’ gatherings
Ramgarh, 1940: Congress Working Committee meets in Ramgarh in undivided Bihar. Presided over by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, this session committed the Congress to the creation of a Constituent Assembly to frame and adopt a Constitution for a free India.
Patna, 2025: The Congress is holding its Working Committee meeting in Bihar again. Much has changed in the 85 years between Ramgarh and Patna. The Congress, then at the forefront of the freedom movement, now leads the opposition at the Centre and is gearing up for the Assembly election in Bihar.
The Congress's who's who, from party chief Mallikarjun Kharge to Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, to all Congress chief ministers, are meeting at Patna's Sadaqat Ashram today. Mr Kharge unfurled the party flag at the Bihar Congress headquarters this morning, after which the meeting began. The party leadership may pass key resolutions with the Bihar polls in mind, sources have said.
Revisiting History
The Congress's choice of Sadaqat Ashram as the venue for the CWC meet suggests an attempt to showcase its role in the freedom struggle. The Sadaqat Ashram, which now houses the state Congress office and a museum, was once the venue of meetings by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr Rajendra Prasad and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. The Congress's choice of this venue digs into its history as its leaders speak about a "second freedom struggle".
This morning, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh shared how a key decision during the Independence struggle was taken at a CWC meeting in Bihar.
"It was at its Ramgarh session held in mid-March 1940 that the CWC passed its landmark resolution that, for the first time, formally committed the Indian National Congress to the creation of a Constituent Assembly to frame and adopt a Constitution for a free and independent India. The rest is, as they say, history - including the bitter opposition of the organisation now celebrating its centenary to the Constitution that was to be adopted on Nov 26, 1949, and come into effect on Jan 26, 1950," he wrote on X, taking a swipe at RSS.
The Hyderabad Formula
On the agenda of this CWC meeting in Patna is the Congress campaign against alleged voter fraud and brainstorming for the upcoming Bihar polls. Setting the tone for the meeting, Congress president Kharge accused the BJP of playing the communal card for political gains. Sources said the meeting aims to send a strong message as Congress steps up its offensive against the Election Commission of India on the issue of poll irregularities. The poll body and the BJP have trashed the Congress's allegations.
The CWC meeting is also aimed at showcasing the Congress's organisational strength ahead of the election. For quite some time, the Congress has failed to perform in Bihar and is largely dependent on its ally, the RJD. By holding its top meeting in Bihar, the party intends to send a message of strength to its rivals. This message aims to build on Rahul Gandhi's 1,300-km march, Voter Adhikar Yatra.
The Congress is also following the Hyderabad formula, hoping it will work in Bihar. The Congress held a party brass meeting on September 16, 2023, in Hyderabad, shortly before the Telangana polls. The party leadership believes that the CWC meeting in Telangana reenergised the cadre, and the party scored a thumping win in the southern state.
A Message To Ally
Besides its rivals, the BJP and JDU, the Congress also wants to send a message to its Bihar ally, the Tejashwi Yadav-led RJD. Seat-sharing talks within the Grand Alliance are on, and the Congress has been pushing hard for a good deal. In the 2020 Assembly polls, the Congress contested 70 seats, but won only 19. So, the RJD, despite emerging as the single largest party, lost out on government formation.
The Congress is bargaining hard for a good deal this time, even though the RJD is pointing to its earlier performance. There is another sore point: the Congress has not declared Tejashwi Yadav as the Grand Alliance's Chief Minister face. This is being seen as a pressure tactic for the seat-sharing talks and the RJD is not amused.
Against this backdrop, the CWC meeting is the Congress's message to its ally that it is still the country's main opposition and won't settle for a paltry number of seats.
