The Congress on Friday unanimously decided not to hold elections to its working committee, realising that unity of purpose was the foremost objective and any dilution of the message of Narendra Modi’s "disastrous governance" would prove counter-productive at this critical juncture.

The dominant view at the steering committee meeting on Friday before the start of the 85th plenary in Chhattisgarh's Raipur was that elections to the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s highest decision-making body, would trigger a bitter internal conflict at a time when every ounce of energy should be devoted to ousting the Modi regime from power. An election would have inevitably created an overriding "who-won-who-lost" narrative while the purpose is to send out a message that "we are ready for the battle", the Congress felt.

The party leadership is fully aware of the miserable organisational plight in several states and the collective failure to present itself as the obvious national alternative. But the Bharat Jodo Yatra has created a hope and the key strategists do not want that dimmed by internal tussle. There is little time left for the reconstruction of the organisational machinery before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the best option is to go for consolidation and optimisation of available resources, the Congress feels.

So the wiser option of not creating newer problems within the party was exercised by authorising party president Mallikarjun Kharge to nominate the members. As there is a proposal of reservation for youths, 50 per cent members below 50, and berths being set aside for other categories like SCs, STs, OBC, minorities and women, expansion of the CWC is also being considered instead of dramatic cutting and chopping. The number may be increased from 24 to 35, the constitution amendment for which will be undertaken on Saturday.

At Friday’s meeting, Pramod Tiwari set the tone by arguing against internal elections and pleading for authorising the party president to constitute the working committee. Though leaders like Digvijaya Singh and Ajay Maken advocated elections, the majority opinion was opposed to it. Sources said 30 out of 33 speakers wanted to avoid elections. Some leaders conceded the importance of elected members but argued that situational logic didn’t support that risk at this stage.

Abhishek Singhvi, for instance, said election to the CWCs could be held later, after the 2024 parliamentary elections, as it was desirable as a principle to strengthen internal democracy.

A Congress veteran told The Telegraph off the record: “I favour election at all levels in the party, particularly to the CWC. But that could have been done two years ago. We wasted the opportunity soon after the 2019 election and now it is too late to get embroiled in internal competition and bickering. Now the next battle is here and we are completely unprepared.”

Another leader said: “The message that our party workers needs to take from this plenary is very simple — that the party is geared up and is united to oust the BJP. Any dilution of this message, any multiplicity of messaging, will be suicidal. We can’t implode into factions and groups at this late stage. We can’t derail the narrative set in motion by the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Rahul Gandhi has ensured that the party appears to be on track despite organisational infirmities. We have to take off from that tarmac.”

A younger leader said: “The people will have to believe that we can win. The media is already propagating the message of Modi’s invincibility and we can’t give credence to that by fighting among ourselves. Our democratic credentials are anyway much better than all other parties. Right now, the priority is the Lok Sabha elections, not the CWC elections. We have to sound the battle cry against Modi from Raipur.”

Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said after the steering committee meeting: “There was a consensus during the discussions and the decision was taken unanimously.”

No member from the Nehru-Gandhi family was present at the meeting. There was speculation about their absence being a planned strategy as they might have wanted to give a free hand to the party to decide on this crucial point of elections.

The dissenters have been quick to blame the family; in this case, they could have said that the Nehru-Gandhis prevented the election to ensure the CWC doesn’t go beyond the control of loyalists.

There is no denying the fact that the Gandhi family retains its clout in the party and an overwhelming majority can be seen in the loyalist category, ranging from the party president to the Youth Congress chief. When Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi reached Raipur in the afternoon, all Congress chief ministers were present to receive them at the airport.

Lok Sabha leader Adhir Chowdhury pointed out at the steering committee that holding the meeting without any member of the family appeared odd. Both Sonia and Rahul might have consciously decided to step back and dilute the perception that they were still dominating the show. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra may arrive only on Saturday.

But for the party workers, over 15,000 are in Raipur now from across the country, the AICC structure including the party president is an arrangement to run the system while the leadership role is reserved for Rahul.