Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday appointed five senior leaders to analyse “the post-poll situation” and suggest organisational changes in the five states that faced assembly elections recently, people familiar with the development said.
The announcement, underlining a sense of urgency amid unprecedented electoral crisis, came barely a day after Gandhi ordered state unit chiefs in the five states —Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa — to resign.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Ajay Maken, who was also part of the party’s Punjab poll campaign, has been entrusted to suggest organisational changes in the state unit. Former Union minister Jitendra Singh will suggest organisational changes in party’s Uttar Pradesh unit, while Rajya Sabha MP Rajani Patil, party’s Rajya Sabha chief whip Jairam Ramesh and general secretary Avinash Pandey will analyse the electoral loss in Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand, respectively, people cited above said.
The Congress failed to win any of the five states in this round of assembly elections, results of which were announced on March 10.
{{/usCountry}}The Congress failed to win any of the five states in this round of assembly elections, results of which were announced on March 10.
{{/usCountry}}According to a communication from Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, these leaders will hold talks with “MLA candidates and important leaders” before suggesting changes.
One of the five leaders told HT that they will also look into what went wrong in the poll management and the road ahead. Another leader said Gandhi might not wait for the Congress’s organisational elections, due in August this year, to make wholesale changes in these states after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) authorised her to make “necessary and comprehensive changes”.
“These announcements show how the party high command is wasting no time to revive the party and also send a signal to the G23 (a group of leaders who have demanded change in the party leadership) that the leadership is taking necessary steps,” a senior Congress leader said requesting anonymity.
On Wednesday, many Congress lawmakers from Punjab targeted Maken during their meeting with the party chief.
Lok Sabha MP Jasbir Singh Gill told Gandhi that the entire onus lies on Punjab in-charge Harish Chowdhary and Maken and alleged that the party tickets were “sold to undeserving candidates”. Another MP questioned the party’s decision to send Maken to Punjab and said, “Maken can’t even win his election in Delhi, how can he win in Punjab?”
Senior party leader and former Union minister Manish Tewari told Gandhi that he was barred from campaigning extensively and it sent a “wrong signal to Hindu voters”. While he spoke against the strategy of appealing to certain sections of the Punjab society and alienating others, at least three MPs targeted leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabja, Mallikarjun Kharge.
They maintained that Kharge, who led a committee to look into Punjab affairs in 2021, came with the sole aim of removing Captain Amarinder Singh from the chief minister’s post and did not listen to the cross-section of the party to analyse other problems.
Congress leaders said that the selection of five leaders to suggest organisational changes comes after the state in charges submitted their reports on the poll debacle, which were discussed during the CWC meeting on Sunday.
“The need of the hour is to bring in young faces in each state. We have to wait and see how the changes take place. But Sonia Gandhi’s quick actions will send a message to Congress voters and workers that the party is serious about a revival,” a leader considered close to the Gandhi family said, also wishing not to be named.