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Cong gears up for panchayat polls in UP, sets up panel
Amid ongoing efforts to revamp the Congress organisation right down to the grass roots level, the state unit has set up a 13-member committee to prepare party workers
Amid ongoing efforts to revamp the Congress organisation right down to the grass roots level, the state unit has set up a 13-member committee to prepare party workers for the panchayat elections which are due in Uttar Pradesh in 2020.
The step is in line with Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s directive to senior leaders to begin preparations for the panchayat polls, which are considered important to accomplish ‘Mission UP2022’ to bring the party back to power in the 2022 assembly elections. The Congress has been out of power in the state since 1989.
“Yes, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has asked the state unit to gear up for the panchayat elections. We have set up a 13-member committee that will be responsible for preparations, selection of candidates and contesting the panchayat polls,” said Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) president Ajay Kumar Lallu.
Panchayat elections in the rural areas are not held on party lines and no poll symbols of political parties are allotted to the candidates. The major parties count their performance on the basis of the victory of their workers/leaders and the candidates supported by them at various levels.
The total number of seats that the Congress-supported candidates contested in the last panchayat polls in 2015 is not clear. For its part, the party claimed to have contested less than 50% of the panchayat seats.
It was able to win less than 50 to 80 seats of the district panchayat members out of the nearly 1500 of the 3112 seats that it contested. The Congress had suffered a severe jolt as its rural units failed to make a mark even in Amethi and Rae Bareli that were considered to be the party’s bastions.
Congress MLC Dinesh Singh’s brother Awadhesh Singh was elected district panchayat president in Rae Bareli but the party faces a greater challenge this time in view of changed political scenario there. Both Dinesh Singh and Awadhesh Singh, along with their Harchandpur (Rae Bareli) MLA brother Rakesh Singh have joined the BJP. In Amethi, where Rahul Gandhi lost in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the situation remains bad for the party.
Most of the Congress candidates had lost in the 2015 panchayat polls there. The party has a president only in Bahadurpur block panchayat of Amethi.
“The Congress is serious about contesting panchayat elections this time. As Prime Minister, the late Rajiv Gandhi had made great efforts to strengthen the panchayati raj institutions. Although successive state governments have not taken this initiative forward, the Congress is committed to realising the dream. The Congress wants to seriously contest the panchayat elections this time,” said Siddharth Priya Srivastava, the UPCC administration incharge.
UPCC general secretary Badruddin said the 13-member committee would gradually divide its work in different zones, divisions and districts to fix responsibility and ensure improvement in the party’s performance in the panchayat polls.
“For the first time in recent years, we will contest the election to all the posts from the village panchayat to district panchayat level,” he said.
PARTY TO CONTEST VIDHAN PARISHAD POLLS
Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) president Ajay Kumar Lallu said his party will contest the biennial election to Vidhan Parishad seats from graduate and teachers’ constituencies. Eleven seats of the state legislative council will fall vacant on May 6, 2020. The party has asked its senior leaders to send the names of potential candidates for these seats.
