All eyes are now on Mumbai civic body polls: Congress chalks out road map

The city unit, which is known for decades-old factionalism, has been given message to work together, by dividing responsibilities among various camps and finetuning roles for each of them

In a first, the central leadership of the Congress has chalked out a programme to be implemented by its Mumbai unit for the upcoming civic polls. From defining the roles of newly appointed team leaders, to directing them to hold padyatras and outreach programme and appointment of local committees, the central leadership has prepared a time-bound schedule for the next four months.

(From left) Ashok Chavan, Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge and Balasaheb Thorat. (Satyabrata Tripathy/HT Photo)

Contrary to the traditional style, the party has not only constituted various committees for the election, which is a year away, but has also specified the roles of each member of the leaders’ team. The city unit, which is known for decades-old factionalism, has been given message to work together, by dividing responsibilities among various camps and finetuning roles for each of them.

The All India Congress Committee (AICC), the highest decision-making body of the party, appointed a team to lead the city unit two weeks ago, ahead of the crucial elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Besides the president, it has appointed a working president and key leaders to head coordination, manifesto and campaign committee.

Days after the appointments, the party has directed the Mumbai president to complete Padyatra covering 100km in100 days, organise 10 public meetings with key local leaders, launch membership drive and complete the appointment at executive committees.

Working president Charan Singh Sapra has been directed to restructure the media cell by January 26 and establish a network of social media workers till booth level, create a Facebook page for every district and WhatsApp groups in each of the booth.

Campaign committee head Arif Naseem Khan has been directed to identify the issues to be taken up in the campaign, while coordination committee chief Amarjit Sing Manhas has been asked to better the coordination between state and city leaders.

Apart from chalking out the schedule for the meetings at various levels, the leadership has also earmarked the responsibilities to be completed in the next four months. Constitution of various committees, training of spokesperson and officerbearers has to be completed in every district and block by the end of April.

“This is happening for the first time. The Central leadership would never take interest in functioning of the city or state units after announcing the names to lead the units. The BMC elections are being taken very seriously by the leadership, perhaps in the wake of the grand show by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the recently held Hyderabad civic polls. This has, however, sent a strong message among city leaders and workers establishing the fact that central leadership is monitoring the unit closely,” said a senior city leader, requesting anonymity.

“The meticulously chalked out plan has helped in charging up the party rank and file. AICC, through the road map, has sent out a message that it is serious about the Mumbai unit and the forthcoming elections. There will be no room for factionalism in the city unit, as the new leadership is ready for discussion and dialogue. The Mumbai Congress will not only implement the programme given by the AICC but regain its old glory,” said Sapra.