Overview

• The extended CWC opened at Sadaqat Ashram in Patna, the party’s first such meeting in Bihar since Independence, with Mallikarjun Kharge unfurling the flag and more than 170 leaders in attendance.
• Deliberations focus on the Bihar campaign roadmap with expected resolutions on inflation, unemployment, women’s safety and electoral reforms ahead of polls likely in November.
• Congress is amplifying its ‘vote chori’ allegation tied to the voter-roll Special Intensive Revision, citing Rahul Gandhi’s 16-day Voter Adhikar Yatra, while the Election Commission has termed the charge incorrect and baseless.
• In opening remarks, Kharge attacked the BJP and Nitish Kumar, questioned the Election Commission’s fairness and said the Bihar election would start the “countdown” to the end of the Modi government’s “corrupt rule.”
• After the meeting, Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to meet RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on seat-sharing, with party sources indicating Congress wants about 70 seats and RJD is reluctant to go beyond roughly 60.