After loss, it’s time for serious introspection. Routed in the recent Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections, the Punjab Congress is gearing up to look at its own house for setting it in order.
The development is significant as the party it seems is going beyond the blame game and rigging allegations to re-look its own policies and approach for finding the cause of defeat.
Drawing close to another set of challenges, including 2014 parliamentary polls, the state Congress leadership has decided to look deep into its working, limitations, strategies, among other things, and to examine the reason why the party is facing defeat after defeat in the State.
“We would analyse the reasons for our repeated poll debacles to understand what is going wrong where, and the party would conjointly chalk out the strategy to improve upon it. This is the need of the hour for the party considering the approaching panchayat elections, and above all the lok Sabha elections in 2014,” a senior Congress leader told The Pioneer.
Even as the State party chief Partap Singh Bajwa had all along been blaming the SAD-BJP’s highhandedness, poll rigging, misuse of official and police machinery, among others, seem to be the reasons for party’s defeat in the elections, it also appears that the party is lacking on some fronts to strike a cord with the populace.
Above all, the infighting and groupism in the party is taking its toll on the Congress prospects in the State. The disharmony within the State party leadership had kept many senior Congress leaders, including Bajwa’s predecessor Capt Amarinder Singh, away from the campaigning during recently concluded panchayati elections — leading to party’s another defeat.
In contrast, undergoing a litmus test, Bajwa was out in the field, campaigning enthusiastically for the party, with furious in his attacks on the ruling alliance. However, the Bajwa-factor failed to break the jinx of defeat.
The party cadre further dispirited, Bajwa is aiming to remove all the shortcomings affecting the party. “Certain shortcomings are there in the party which has been overlooked time and again. And, which direly needs to be discuss threadbare ad at length,” said the leader, without disclosing the factors.
The party has managed to bag just 23 Zila Parishad seats out of total 331, and 454 out of 2731 Panchayat Samiti seats. Congress’ situation at the grass root level could be gauged from the fact that it could not secure even a single seat in Zila Parishad in nine districts — including Amritsar, Mohali, Bathinda, Barnala, Ferozepur, Faridkot, Moga, Muktsar, and Tarn Taran. It failed to touch even the double figures in seven districts — Amritsar, Mohali, Barnala, Ferozepur, Faridkot, Muktsar, and Tarn Taran — in Panchayat Samitis.
Party’s national Vice-President Rahul Gandhi has all along been stressing on giving “greater say” to the party’s grass root level workers, the party has been facing crushing defeats in the low-rung elections.