The Congress Working Committee met at party president Sonia Gandhi's home on Monday ahead of the Union Budget session that is scheduled to begin on February 23. At the meeting, Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of muzzling the voice of the Opposition, civil society and students. She added that the National Democratic Alliance government is "hell-bent on destroying the spirit of inquiry, questioning, debate and dissent" in the country.

The CWC passed a resolution accusing the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh of targeting educational institutions to impose its ideology on universities and colleges. On the ongoing debate on nationalism that erupted after police action on the Jawaharlal Nehru campus earlier this month, Gandhi said, "To cover up its own failures, the government has once again unleashed its divisive agenda by generating an unwarranted debate on patriotism and nationalism." PTI reported that the CWC has decided to reach out to "like-minded parties" to corner the government in the upcoming Parliament session.