"CONGRESS NEEDS A REAL PEOPLE'S LEADER"
Last week, Rahul Gandhi called a meeting of Uttar Pradesh MPs and MLAs along with some Congress office-bearers. The senior Congressmen who attended the meeting did not expect much.
It is a known fact that sycophancy in the Congress takes precedence over everything else. When one MP spoke his mind, he was later told by his colleagues that his reactions were immature and too open. And what was it that he had said?
He was bold enough to point out that there were the loopholes in the co-ordination between the Centre and the State Congress units. He drove home the fact that one can’t fight State elections on computers. Leaders need to be available all the time for discussions and minute-to-minute changes and negotiations during an election. You can’t be switched off from seven in the evening to nine in the morning. A leader can’t be surrounded by a handful of advisors. He also said that 44 helicopters were on duty during UP elections but unfortunately, the party could not even get that many seats. Money flowed like water without any accounting and over 200 newspapers carried advertisements before and through the elections which was quite an expense. Never has any candidate or media campaigns been funded so much in any State by the Congress.
Meanwhile, Digvijay Singh and Rita Bahuguna Joshi submitted their resignations to the Congress president. All Congressmen are keeping their fingers crossed that what happened in Bihar is not repeated. After the debacle in Bihar, the State Congress president had submitted his resignation. Till date it has not been accepted and a new PCC president had not been appointed.
Things are no different in Punjab. After the the defeat of the party, the leaders are fighting and partymen are wondering at the High Command’s next move. By not taking a decision, the party is encouraging rumour mongers to have a field day which is a disaster for the morale of the Congressmen. Not only this, one becomes a laughing stock in the country.
All talk about money and personal relationships playing a vital part of selecting State leaders should be put to rest. The reins should be given to the person who can deliver. Deliverance and capability and his loyalty to the High Command should be the only criteria. In six months from now State elections are to be held in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. The elections in these two States is important for the Congress and the BJP.
Elections in Himachal will be tough for the Congress. Himachal Congress leaders have no connect with its grassroots party workers. The stature of a leader in any State should be monitored by popularity, experience and touch with the common man. Someone who spends more time in Delhi is not the kind of person who can deliver because if he was a man of results he would not stoop to chamchagiri. He would know the power of his strength in the State. That is how the Sharad Pawars were created. Leaders of that stature do not give in to sycophancy. The High Command needs to be careful in choosing State leaders from Delhi corridors. If the party looses in Gujarat and Himachal it will bring down the morale of the Congressmen. It will be very difficult for the party to to build its base from grassroots level again.
At the Centre, the Congress is completely run by UPA-II coalition partners. In States the party is losing base rapidly. Harsh decisions need to be taken. Older generations who have the experience of delivering steadily should be taken into confidence. The UPA chairperson and Congress president’s team needs to gear up and take some mature decisions. That is the only way the Congress can save itself.
Last week, Rahul Gandhi called a meeting of Uttar Pradesh MPs and MLAs along with some Congress office-bearers. The senior Congressmen who attended the meeting did not expect much.
It is a known fact that sycophancy in the Congress takes precedence over everything else. When one MP spoke his mind, he was later told by his colleagues that his reactions were immature and too open. And what was it that he had said?
He was bold enough to point out that there were the loopholes in the co-ordination between the Centre and the State Congress units. He drove home the fact that one can’t fight State elections on computers. Leaders need to be available all the time for discussions and minute-to-minute changes and negotiations during an election. You can’t be switched off from seven in the evening to nine in the morning. A leader can’t be surrounded by a handful of advisors. He also said that 44 helicopters were on duty during UP elections but unfortunately, the party could not even get that many seats. Money flowed like water without any accounting and over 200 newspapers carried advertisements before and through the elections which was quite an expense. Never has any candidate or media campaigns been funded so much in any State by the Congress.
Meanwhile, Digvijay Singh and Rita Bahuguna Joshi submitted their resignations to the Congress president. All Congressmen are keeping their fingers crossed that what happened in Bihar is not repeated. After the debacle in Bihar, the State Congress president had submitted his resignation. Till date it has not been accepted and a new PCC president had not been appointed.
Things are no different in Punjab. After the the defeat of the party, the leaders are fighting and partymen are wondering at the High Command’s next move. By not taking a decision, the party is encouraging rumour mongers to have a field day which is a disaster for the morale of the Congressmen. Not only this, one becomes a laughing stock in the country.
All talk about money and personal relationships playing a vital part of selecting State leaders should be put to rest. The reins should be given to the person who can deliver. Deliverance and capability and his loyalty to the High Command should be the only criteria. In six months from now State elections are to be held in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. The elections in these two States is important for the Congress and the BJP.
Elections in Himachal will be tough for the Congress. Himachal Congress leaders have no connect with its grassroots party workers. The stature of a leader in any State should be monitored by popularity, experience and touch with the common man. Someone who spends more time in Delhi is not the kind of person who can deliver because if he was a man of results he would not stoop to chamchagiri. He would know the power of his strength in the State. That is how the Sharad Pawars were created. Leaders of that stature do not give in to sycophancy. The High Command needs to be careful in choosing State leaders from Delhi corridors. If the party looses in Gujarat and Himachal it will bring down the morale of the Congressmen. It will be very difficult for the party to to build its base from grassroots level again.
At the Centre, the Congress is completely run by UPA-II coalition partners. In States the party is losing base rapidly. Harsh decisions need to be taken. Older generations who have the experience of delivering steadily should be taken into confidence. The UPA chairperson and Congress president’s team needs to gear up and take some mature decisions. That is the only way the Congress can save itself.
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