Congress in disarray in poll-bound states

NEW DELHI:  Not just at the national level, but indecisiveness and delay in organisational revamp in Congress is expected to hamper the party’s electoral prospects in some of the states next year. Elections are scheduled in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Manipur in 2022. Some of the Congress state units in these states are in disarray. This is becoming a worry for the local leadership. Missives have been sent to the party high command for expediting organisational revamp and appointments of key functionaries. These concerns are still to be addressed.

Congress ran BJP close in Gujarat in 2017. Many MLAs have joined BJP since. After the debacle in local body polls early this year, Gujarat Congress chief Amit Chavda and Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani resigned. There is no new state chief yet. The post of AICC in-charge for Gujarat has been vacant following the demise of Rajeev Satav in May.   

“The party has recently announced new state units in Assam, Kerala and some other states, where elections have just got over. But there has been inordinate delay in announcing the party chief in Gujarat,” said a senior Gujarat leader. Manipur saw party chief Govindas Konthoujam join BJP. Loken Singh has been appointed interim chief. In UP, Congress made a series of appointments at district and state level but it has created heartburn among senior leaders.    

“While BJP has already started preparations for polls through Jan Aashirwad Yatra, we don’t even have our organisational set-up in place. How  do we expect to fight them. There seems to be no preparation,” said another leader. With the death of Veer Bhadra Singh, Congress has lost its face in Himachal and there are talks of a reshuffle. And in Punjab, internal conflict hogs limelight more often. The Uttarakhand unit saw key appointments only recently.

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