Even as various political parties have intensified their election campaign through unconventional means of communications like the internet, Facebook to name a few, the Congress Party office at Haldwani and Dehradun that is supposed to be central to look after party's election works in the Kumaon region is still deprived of even minimum basic means of communications like telephone and fax connections.
With the stage set for electoral battle after completion of the nomination process, the office bearers at the aforesaid Congress party office popularly known as Swaraj Ashram are still clueless how to gear up the office for the ongoing electoral battle in the absence of a basic telephone connection, fax or internet service.
This is the condition of the office of a political party which is in power both at the Centre and State. More so, among others two senior Cabinet Ministers from the Congress party including Yashpal Arya who is also State president of the party and Indira Hardiyesh also belong to the same region. Yet it seems nothing has been done for modernisation of the party office at Haldwani.
Congress party insiders on the condition of anonymity here maintain that it is the party that has made regional party leaders like Yashpal Arya and Indira Haridayesh what they are today. But these leaders seem to be little bothered about strengthening party organisation with minimum basic services.
However, when the issue related to poorly equipped office of the Congress party was raised before Congress Haldwani unit chief Harish Mehta who is at the helm of this office also, while talking to The Pioneer informed that neither there is a basic landline phone connection or fax nor high-tech internet facility in this Congress office at Haldwani.
However, he informed that perhaps the party may get a basic landline phone service in this office soon in view of the general elections.
Such ill-equipped office is not only hampering routine party works as the party office bearers here say, but also creating difficulties for the media people for doing routine party's poll coverage.
It is worth mention here that the Congress Party made leadership changes in less than two years at the State Government level, but it did not do anything to reorganise its State unit during the past two years.
The fact of the matter is that demand for strengthening the party orgnisation started soon after formation of the Congress led State Government in 2012. Perhaps realising discontentment within the party, incumbent Yashpal Arya also tendered his resignation, but the Congress central leadership neither accepted his resignation nor did anything to restructure the state party unit and to modernise its functioning as its Haldwani office reflects.