With the Congress at an all-time low, and the rank and file demoralised by successive defeats, the party’s central leadership is pinning its hopes on the organisational elections infusing fresh blood into the Grand Old Party.
“Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi were emphatic on the need to conduct a free and fair election at all levels of the organisational structure; from booth level to the All India Congress Committee,’’ said Mullapally Ramachandran, the newly-appointed chairman of the Central Election Authority of the party on Wednesday.
According to the tentative schedule drawn up for the organisational elections, the entire process has to be wrapped up by July 25 next year when the “election” of the Congress president is scheduled. Though senior Congress leaders maintain that every effort would be made to ensure a free and fair election at all levels, no one is envisaging a challenge to Ms. Gandhi.
Organisational polls in the Congress have often been dismissed as a set-match, with office-bearers being thrust upon various rungs of the chain of command by local leaders or selected “by consensus” to avoid faction fights. Factionalism is particularly intense in States like Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.
“The Congress is at a critical point in its history and our effort would be to encourage new membership and fresh leadership to emerge,’’ Mr. Ramachandran said, acknowledging the criticism that the party has long been a closed shop. The membership drive would continue till the year-end.
In a bid to ensure that factional fights do not facilitate bogus memberships as it has in the past, efforts are on to reach out to regional satraps. Also, a meeting of AICC general secretaries has been called next Monday where the effort will be to drive home the need to bury personal differences and help rebuild the party. This will be followed up by a meeting of Pradesh Congress Committee presidents to activate the respective State machineries.
“Great attention is being paid to the selection of Pradesh Returning Officers (PROs) to ensure that people with integrity are selected,” said Mr. Ramachandran.
Another general secretary added that if the PROs do their job properly, then bogus memberships will come down considerably.
