New Delhi: The Extended Congress Working Committee held on August 19, 2026, flagged some of the most pressing issues facing the country in its four hour-long meeting held at Congress Headquarters, Indira Bhawan, New Delhi, which was attended by 88 CWC members. They included the CWC members, permanent and special invitees and four Congress Chief Ministers. It was attended among others by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi, and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Shri Rahul Gandhi.

‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ programmes to be held in 800 cities across country

The CWC discussed the students’ unrest across the country over the repeated paper leaks and the prevailing education system. The CWC unanimously appreciated the role of the Opposition during the Monsoon Session in putting the government completely on the backfoot.

During the CWC meeting, the Congress Chief Ministers were asked to prepare a blueprint within one month for the education and examination reforms in their respective states after speaking to all the stakeholders including the students. They were asked to present a concrete plan for restructuring the education system within one month.

Party to hold nationwide protests over Ayodhya donation theft

Taking the ‘Chanda Chori’ (donation theft) at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya very seriously, the issue concerns the sentiments of the people. He said that those who are polarising people in the name of religion and temple have been indulging in donation theft also. He said that the CWC directed state Congress committees to take the agitation to the village level.

On Chinese incursion

He said that the CWC expressed grave concern over the Chinese incursions in Arunachal Pradesh and held Prime Minister Narendra Modi responsible for them. He also referred to the clean chit given by PM Modi to China on June 19, 2020, and saying no Indian territory had been occupied.

Reaffirms stand on delimitation, seeks freeze on LS seats at 543 for next 25 years

On the issue of delimitation, the Congress Party’s stand is clear that there must be a freeze on the number of Lok Sabha seats at 543 for next 25 years and 33 percent women reservation must be provided within this number. He also referred to the resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly along similar lines.

Condemns Haldwani ‘shuddhikaran’ after Kharge ji’s speech

The Congress General Secretary disclosed that the CWC strongly condemned the ‘shuddhikaran’ (purification) of the venue in Haldwani in Uttarakhand, where Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge had addressed a public meeting.

Calling the incident totally unacceptable and questioning the Prime Minister’s silence, the CWC unanimously passed a resolution demanding that the Prime Minister apologise. He asserted that the “purification” was done by people belonging to the BJP-RSS ecosystem with an upper-caste mindset. He said that is not a leader of any particular caste but a leader of the masses and the President of the Indian National Congress.

On ‘Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan’

A detailed progress report regarding the ‘Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan’ for organisational strengthening was also presented in the CWC meeting, adding that the process is underway across the country and will be completed from the booth level to the state level before 31st October.

On ‘Vande Mataram’ Issue

Later replying to a question on the ‘Vande Mataram’ issue, Shri Jairam Ramesh said that there was no confusion and the Congress was absolutely clear about adhering to the 1937 CWC resolution on the national song. He said that the resolution to sing only the first two stanzas was adopted in the presence of several great leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore and others.