AHMEDABAD — Stung by its worst-ever electoral performance in the last Gujarat Assembly polls, the Congress leadership is desperately attempting to revive the party by identifying the causes and working out remedial measures.
Only young fresh faces with impeccable leadership and aggressive strategy can save the party from total decimation, say party leaders.
Mere symbolic analysis of the defeat will not serve any purpose. Moreover, not entering the electoral race with the right strategy, coupled with weak leadership and disbalance in the caste equation turned out to be a perfect recipe for disaster, opines Sanjay Patwa, working president of Surat Congress.
It’s high time the party national leadership introduced a new face for the state unit, launch him strategically and give him free hand to run the show without any control from Delhi, he argues.
Leaders like Anant Patel, Punja Vansh or Jignesh Mevani or Manhar Patel with fighting spirit should now be given the centrestage, Patwa says underlining the need for aggressive strategy and leadership.
Seconding him, party’s state vice-president Hemang Vasavada said the need of the hour is to re-establish its connection with people. “We should organise more people’s movements and run them systematically,” he said.
Through these, Congress has to emerge as the people’s voice thus creating a place in their hearts, Vasavada says.
In the past, the party did lose some opportunities, which it cannot afford any longer.
“Symbolic protest movements will not yield any result as agitations and protests need to be run for days and months together for impact. We need to put the ruling party on the back foot. The day it happens, Congress will achieve the first milestone,” asserts Narendrakumar Rawat, senior leader from Vadodara.
As part of the mass movement, the party should get aggressive and active on social media as well. Countering the ruling party campaign is one of the biggest challenges for which the party needs a huge and solid Army to launch an aggressive counter campaign, he adds.
Besides, change in protocol policy is also a must. Now, the seniors have to learn to take seats among the workers, instead of on stage. Jumbo organisation is burdensome which neither resolves any issue nor promotes leaders. Party national leaders and state observers will have to ensure that they get the right feedback and take timely decisions, Patwa strongly recommended.
However, the leaders are divided over the social engineering concept. While a section is batting for repositioning itself with its core bank of OBC, SC/ST/ and Muslims, another feels it is high time the party attempted to win the upper caste and handed over the reins of the state unit. — IANS
