Congress sets up committee to keep an eye on INTUC, recognises Sanjeeva Reddy as leader

Five-member coordination committee will be headed by AICC general secretary Tariq Anwar

The Congress leadership has set up a five-member coordination committee to “keep an eye” on the party’s trade union wing Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC). The committee will be headed by AICC general secretary Tariq Anwar. Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat, MPs K. Muraleedharan, Rajmani Patel and former MP Udit Raj are its members.

AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal said the decision was taken based on the recommendation submitted by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Digvijaya Singh to former Congress president Sonia Gandhi earlier when she was the president of the party. The party also examined the factional fight between INTUC president Sanjeeva Reddy and former MP from Jharkhand C.S. Dubey. “On examining the membership records and number of trade unions affiliated to each faction of INTUC, the AICC recognises INTUC led by Mr. Reddy as the official body,” Mr. Venugopal said in the release.

Mr. Venugopal said the coordination committee will keep an eye on the affairs of INTUC and apprise the Congress president of developments from time to time. In a letter to Mr. Reddy, Mr. Venugopal urged him to resolve the differences amicably in the interest of the working class and withdraw the cases filed against each other [Mr. Reddy and Mr. Dubey] immediately. He has also urged the INTUC leadership to hold election immediately.

The national plenary session of INTUC will be held in Delhi on February 22, 23 and 24. As part of the session, several State-level conventions are being held now. At the Kerala State convention held in Thekkady in Idukki on December 21 and 22, State president of INTUC and national vice president R Chandrasekhar had raised the lack of attention of the AICC to the affairs of INTUC with Mr. Anwar.

“He assured us that he will take it up with the AICC leadership. Now, the leadership has constituted a committee and it is a remarkable step not just for INTUC, but for the united trade unions of the country,” Mr. Chandrasekhar said.

He said settling the problems in INTUC would help in an early comeback of the Congress. “If this government at the Centre continues, there will be no public sector left in this country. Not just INTUC, the entire working people look at this decision of the Congress leadership very positively. We are an organisation of about four crore workers. We have a major role to play in protecting the fabric of this country,” he added.