Congress readies for organisational polls

With elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh out of the way, the Congress is now gearing up to hold organisational polls by early next year. Aurangzeb Naqshbandi reports.

With elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh out of the way, the Congress is now gearing up to hold organisational polls by early next year.

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The polls, initially due in 2009, were postponed after the party informed the Election Commission about its inability to conduct them because of the Lok Sabha elections in April-May this year.

As a first step, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) has directed its state units to effect adjustment of areas within constituencies as per the new delimitation.

“The party should have a fresh look at the procedure for delimitation on the basis of changes made by the Election Commission, i.e., adjustment of areas wherever needed without increasing the number of constituencies,” AICC central election authority chairman Oscar Fernandes said in his October 10 circular.

However, all Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chiefs and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leaders have been asked to ensure that the total number of blocks in a state do not exceed twice the number of assembly segments.

“This will give a fair representation to all the state units,” Fernandes said.

The PCC heads have been asked to finalise the district-wise list of blocks, mentioning the total number of primary committees in each block.

They could form small committees to finalise the list of blocks. The party has also directed the PCC chiefs to step up the membership drive across the country so that the organisational polls are conducted as per the revised schedule.

The party has set December 31 as the deadline for the membership drive.

However, it has called a meeting of its general secretaries, PCC presidents and other office bearers on October 21 to review the progress on the delimitation work and the membership drive.

The Congress high command is also considering carrying out the much-awaited revamp of the AICC as several leaders hold the dual charge of the ministry and party. “Some new faces will be inducted and given the party responsibilities,” a senior Congress leader said on the condition of anonymity.