Desperate to bounce back after humiliating defeat in last Parliamentary elections and also to retain power in this biggest state after remaining in exile now for almost three decades, the Congress high-command seems to have first time made serious efforts to bring all the leaders under one umbrella through `please all’ formula giving everyone specific `responsibilities’. However, how far the above formula to work as a `team’ would turned into `reality’ can be only witnessed in the coming days.
Sources said that the poll strategist Prashant Kishor aka PK during interaction with the grass root workers and local leaders draw one conclusion that this oldest political outfit is mainly ailing as it had several leaders who worked on their own agenda but never come under one umbrella to ensure a comeback for the Party. The interaction pointed that every senior leader in UP worked separately but had one `common agenda’ is just to pull down each other and to `ensure’ that the rival camp could not get success.
Sources further said that PK had also observed that even when the High Command is seriously looking for a comeback here in UP but this effort would remain a `dream’ until some formula of bringing every one under one `umbrella’ by giving each one (all the former minister from UP as well as other senior leaders) a separate responsibility would be made. Besides, he also extracted that Party had already went to appease Dalit, Muslim community in the past to revive the Party but had never made serious efforts to woo it’s traditional `Brahmin” vote bank which always played key role in Congress’s success. Many of the Congress leaders reportedly told PK that none other Party except for Congress which had given a Brahmin chief minister in UP so if the Party promises to give top representation to Brahmin by announcing a chief ministerial candidate of the community than the Party could `surprise’ the poll pandits who had almost written off the Party from forming government here in UP. Besides, the workers also suggested that only a `crowd-puller’ and a leader who had a profile of an outstanding `administrator’ should be preferred for a job of state president and chief ministerial candidate respectively so that they could go in elections on a `positive’ note. It may be mentioned that demand of bringing-in Priyanka Gandhi has been also made in almost all the interactions.
According to sources, going by PK’s finding, the Party high-command first went with announcement of Raj Babbar, as state president and now within 48-hours had declared former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dixit as chief ministerial candidate. One leader was a crowd-puller and other had three term record as chief minister during which the national capital had witnessed a `noticeable’ development.
Sources confirmed that the High Command not stopped but adopting `please all’ formula to bring all senior leaders of UP under one umbrella, they also declared several other committees adjusting all the veterans and giving them specific responsibilities. While outgoing state president Nirmal Khatri was already pleased by giving him charge of State Screening Committee for coming Assembly elections, Sanjay Singh has been made campaign committee chief, Pramod Tewari has been adjusted as Cooperating Committee chief also comprising of former state president Dr Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Mohsina Kidwai, Rajeev Shukla, Salman Khursheed, Shree Prakash Jaiswal, Saleem Sherwani, Pradeep Jain Aditya, Nirmal Khatri, Pl Punia and Pradeep Mathur. In campaign committee, besides Sanjay Singh, former minister Jitin Prasad, Gyadeen Anuragi, Vijendra Singh and Zafar Ali Naqvi were adjusted. Besides, former minister RPN Singh, has been also adjusted as senior vice-president of UPCC along with Imran Masood, Bhagwati Prasad Chowdhary, Rajesh Mishra, and Raja Ram Pal.