Meet will discuss target electorate, ideology, leadership issues of the party
The Congress is deliberating to convene its chintan baithak in March next year which will be its first meeting after successive electoral losses during the last six months, including the humiliating loss in the lok Sabha polls. AICC sources said the meeting would discuss issues ranging from target electorate, ideology and leadership issues from grass-root level to the top. The lok Sabha polls saw the Congress’ tally plummeting from 206 in 2009 to a mere 44 in 2014 and successively losing its ground in States like Maharashtra, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir and Jharkhand.
Even as the party would observe its 130th Foundation Day on Sunday, a top AICC functionary said deliberations have also started in the Congress about the party’s ideological perspective, connection with the masses and form of organisation. A section of senior party leaders also believe that the challenge before the party this time is bigger as while on one hand its vote base in Hindi States has been taken away by parties representing caste aspirations, it faces a Hindutva force at the national level amid an impression having been created the Congress appeases minority in the name of secularism.
Some leaders have voiced concern to the party leadership that the Opposition was successful in creating an impression that the Congress was resorting to minority appeasement and there is a need to correct that impression. It might be noted that the issue was earlier brought in public domain by party veteran AK Antony but later he as well as the party described the remarks concerned with only Kerala politics.
One of the prime agenda may also be a feedback on whether the process of appointment of office bearers be through elections or nominations or it should be a combination of both and how to extend the expand the reach of party in all sections and that the focus should be on taking up State specific issues. The meeting is being scheduled during the first fortnight of March by the time Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi receives inputs from the States and districts by February end for which AICC general secretaries were given specific instructions on Wednesday. The last AICC meeting was held on January 17, 2014.
Rahul was the Congress face for the 2014 lok Sabha polls against Modi and he has already begun an introspection and held a series of consultations with leaders from across the country in groups. In a meeting with the AICC general secretaries on Wednesday, Rahul had asked them to reach out to workers at the grass roots for feedback on how to take the party forward after successive poll debacles.