CWC to discuss roadmap to corner govt on issues of students, Ram temple donation 'theft'

 The Congress will hold a meeting of its working committee here on Wednesday to discuss the political situation in the country, including the roadmap to step up pressure on the government on issues of students and the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple.

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting will be held at Indira Bhawan at 3 pm, with party president Mallikarjun Kharge chairing it and top leaders, including former party chief Rahul Gandhi and general secretaries Jairam Ramesh and K C Venugopal, among others, set to attend.

The opposition party's roadmap to corner the BJP-led Centre on issues of students and the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple would be on the agenda, sources said.

Also, a review of the party's preparations for the Assembly polls early next year would be held. Polls are likely to take place in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur early next year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to opposition parties to support a delimitation-linked Bill to implement women's reservation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies is also likely to come up for discussion.

Asked about the possibility of such a Bill being brought by the government in the near future, Ramesh had last week said, "We are in touch with all parties. We continue to be in touch with all parties, I am sure that this issue will be discussed on August 19 when the CWC meets.

"We cannot afford to relax, you know, because they (government) will try all sorts of tricks. But they do not have the numbers, and the gap between what they claim to have now and what they need is not a small gap. It is a substantial two-digit gap."

After the last CWC meeting in April, the Congress had accused the Modi government of playing politics in the name of the women's-reservation law and asserted that the proposed delimitation exercise linked to it is "not constitutional" and can have "grave consequences".