To bridge the gap between the party and the State Government, AICC vice president Rahul Gandhi convened a meeting with Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) officials at a hotel in Dehradun on Friday. Rahul embarked upon a day-long exercise of marathon meetings with party leaders from grassroots to the top level in Uttarakhand, in a bid to galvanise the party for forthcoming local body and parliamentary polls.
In his address, he categorically said that there is a need to pay respect to the Block Pramukhs and District Congress presidents because they work for the party during election. “If you do not give them respect with responsibility, then during election, they would come to hear us but will not make effort to ensure the party candidate’s victory in the election,” he said.
Taking cognisance of the district Congress leaders’ demand, Rahul Gandhi said that it has been noticed that leader leaves party during election and later joins when the party comes to power. later, they manage to procure party ticket by camping in Delhi. Now onward, such leaders will be accepted with an assurance that they will work for the party for the next five years; thereafter, the party will consider their name for election. He also assured that now he would sit in Delhi and any leader who feels they are being cheated by the party or Government, can meet him in Delhi anytime.
Attacking factionalism, which is eating party like termites, Rahul said that Punjab Congress lost because party leaders worked against the candidate thinking that if they win, then he would not get a chance to become Cabinet Minister which ultimately led to defeat in the Assembly election.
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, who along with Union Cabinet Minister Harish Rawat, State Congress in-charge Choudhary Birender Singh, State PCC president Yashpal Arya, shared dais with Rahul Gandhi while meeting with PCC officials including MPs and MlAs, assured that he would try the level best to strengthen the party.
State Congress in-charge Birender Singh said that Congress could have won 40 out of 70 Assembly seats, but could not do so because of infighting among party leaders. He reiterated that there is a need to work together to win all five lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand in the coming elections.
Union Cabinet Minister and Haridwar MP Harish Rawat said Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi have developed Congress as a house; so he would try to lay roof over the house. State PCC president and Cabinet Minister Yashpal Arya also advocated that State Government should pay attention to the party workers. “We won all the election in the state since 2009 because of these party workers only,” he said.