Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Congress needs re-structuring to retrieve its pre-eminent position

One defeat after another, the Congress Party workers suffer humiliations and loss of face among the people. So, it needs to be re-structured to retrieve its pre-eminent position immediately. It has to match the BJP all over the nation as vibrant democracy requires formidable opposition. It had been holding prime position in the country since independence. After Nehru, Indira and Rajiv, the alienation set among the people with the party slowly and steadily. Though Congress President Sonia Gandhi struggled hard to bring the party on track, it came to power in coalition, and not on its own. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are the two biggest states in the Hindi heartland and these two are also politically most important ones. No party can claim to come in power without doing well in these two states. The tragedy with the Congress Party is that it has become the weakest in these two states. The main reason behind continued defeat of the party is the weakening of the party organization in these two states and absence of progressive and dynamic leaders to lead the party there. Party organization is in disarray in these two states. It is getting weaker and weaker day by day on one hand and the leadership has failed to show its charishma on the other. Sonia Gandhi has been reported to be ailing for the last six months and no rally of hers could be possible in the just concluded assembly elections in five states. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi campaigned on a large scale and laboured hard in UP assembly elections. But he failed miserably. He failed to connect with the people. It is because of the organizational weakness. Party organization in Bihar and UP is lying dead, and it is very astonishing that the party leadership doesn’t act to infuse life in it. The entire party hierarchy in the state of Bihar and UP is required to be overhauled. The new, energetic, youthful, dynamic, progress and development - oriented faces of the party must be brought to the fore and be given free hand to act to revamp the party in these two states. It is still correct that there is no village in India where there is no Congress men, though few in number. This number is to be increased. It is to be understood by the party leadership that there is some sort of alienation among its vote bank of minority, Dalits, weaker sections and Brahmins among upper caste with the party. The Congress party must introspect why its core vote bank has drifted away from it. It has not happened in a day. It is the result of the continued neglect of the party organization. It is a very serious matter that the party like Congress has been out of power in UP and Bihar since 1990. It means it is out of power in these two states for 27 years. The Congress leadership needs to cast off lethargy and act immediately to re-structure and overhaul the party units in these two states without any loss of time if it has to give tough fight to the rampaging BJP. The state leaders must be entrusted with the task of working on the grass root level to connect with the people on the ground. They also must understand the limitations of the party leadership. They should also realize that there is no longer Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi to win elections. Neither is there left any charishma with the leadership. The hard labour of the party leaders on the ground with clear policies and programmes can win elections for them. Congress can only retrieve its pre-imminent position in the country by connecting itself with the people on the ground in a new way without compromising its principled ideological commitment.

No comments:

Post a Comment