Poll reform, 1991 act 'violations' among key topics at CWC meet

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Friday announced its "firmest commitment" to the letter and spirit of the 1991 Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act and said that it will begin a national movement against the "severely compromised" election process and "partisan functioning of the Election Commission" against the backdrop of a string of poll losses.

- Saubhadra Chatterji

The CWC meeting was aimed at introspecting losses in assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana over the last two months but turned into another tirade against ECI and the election process.

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi identified the "violation" of the Places of Worship Act, polling process and the demand for a probe into allegations against the Adani group as "people's issues" and told the party to take a firm stand and go to the hilt on these issues, said people aware of developments.

Gandhi's assertion came after a senior MP from Kerala suggested that the party should talk about inflation and unemployment as those are pro-people issues and apply caution to pick only those issues that resonate with the people. Gandhi disagreed with him. The CWC reiterated its "firmest commitment to the letter and spirit" of the Places of Worship Act, which it said was being "brazenly violated" by the Bharatiya Janata Party.