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With UPCC still awaiting a chief, Congress in total disarray in Uttar Pradesh
The UPCC headquarters generally wear a deserted look on most days. A poor turnout is usually witnessed in response to any call for demonstration/agitation. As the UPCC has not been able to work out any plan of action (in the absence of a state party chief) the party organization at the district and other levels has also remained virtually defunct.
Lucknow: At a time when major political parties are gearing up their cadre for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress remains in disarray in Uttar Pradesh.
The Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) has been working without a chief for nearly 100 days now and the party has remained in the news for all the wrong reasons in recent weeks.
The UPCC was in news recently when its employees protested alleged termination of services of some of their colleagues. A war of words was witnessed on social media when the UPCC decided not to field any candidates for the by-elections to Rampur and Azamgarh Lok sabha seats.
The UPCC headquarters generally wear a deserted look on most days. A poor turnout is usually witnessed in response to any call for demonstration/agitation. As the UPCC has not been able to work out any plan of action (in the absence of a state party chief) the party organization at the district and other levels has also remained virtually defunct. Those who were inducted into the party organisation in the name of revamp, after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, are hardly to be seen.
So, when the Congress gave a call to hold demonstrations to protest Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) move of quizzing Rahul Gandhi (in alleged money laundering case related to National Herald/Young India), the party was able to put up a protest of sorts only in Lucknow. As many senior leaders were detained at their residences or on way to the Raj Bhawan, the party could hardly put up any show of strength.
“When the Congress gave a call for ‘gherao’ of Raj Bhawan, only seven of the party leaders were able to reach there. Others were either stopped at the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) headquarters or placed under house arrest at their residences. There was a time when the Congress workers would come out in large numbers from every street in the state capital to put up a show of strength,” said a Congress functionary, adding, “The Congress has been left with only two MLAs in the state legislative assembly. For the first time in history, the Congress has no representation in the state legislative council.”
“The UPCC has no president after resignation of Ajay Kumar Lallu who gave up his post after the party’s defeat in the 2022 UP assembly polls. District office -bearers too have no directions and are uncertain of their future. The Congress recently called some of the party leaders for demonstration in New Delhi in their personal capacity. Otherwise, there was hardly any representation from Uttar Pradesh in these demonstrations that were dominated by leaders from Haryana and Rajasthan etc.,” said another party functionary.
“The Congress needs a complete surgery of sorts if it wants to remain alive in Uttar Pradesh. The party has to develop leadership at the state level. It needs to reorganize and strengthen itself at the grassroots levels. The party is gradually going into oblivion. It’s high time the leadership took some concrete measures for revival,” said Professor SK Dwivedi, former head of the department, political science, Lucknow University.
