Having suffered its worst-ever rout, losing all 26 lok Sabha seats in the State to the ruling BJP in May this year, the Gujarat unit of the Congress party is looking inwards at strengthening its grassroots.
With the elections to local panchayats due next year, the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) has decided to strengthen its booth level organisation while focusing on a strident membership drive during the party’s State executive meeting held at Surat.
India’s oldest political party is in complete disarray as the party has faced series of defeats since December 2012 Assembly polls. Right from panchayats, to municipality, municipal corporations, Assembly and lok Sabha elections, performance of the Congress continuously deteriorated. Worst was the lok Sabha election 2014, in which the party could not win single parliamentary constituency.
In the State executive meeting, GPCC president Arjun Modhvadia urged the party leaders and workers to put extra efforts and enroll large number of new members in the ongoing membership drive. Stressing on the need for strengthening booth level organisation, Modhvadia insisted party workers to demonstrate complete commitment in both initiatives of the party.
He emphasised on raising farmers' issues like prices of cotton, rice, groundnut and sugarcane. According to him, Congress workers should also create awareness on the heavy taxes levied by the State Government. As BJP is ruling party in State as well as the Centre, he urged the Congress workers to participate in the movement in a big way in their respective districts.
GPCC president said to remain alert on the BJP Government's upcoming move of making changes in labour laws. According to him, the probable changes would be detrimental for the labourers as they would not get benefits like PF, bonus and public holidays.
Former Union Minister Tushar Chaudhary while addressing the meeting appealed the workers to be active and recognise the active and loyal workers of the party. He emphasised on the need to activate the many cells and departments of the party and to appoint committed workers to various posts.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary, Irshad Mirza suggested the workers to take more responsible stance to strengthen the party. "It was Gujarat which brought life back into the party in the past," said Mirza while remembering days of late seventies and early eighties.
Top Congress leaders including former leader of Opposition in Gujarat Assembly Shaktisinh Gohil, former Gujarat Minister Chandrika Chudasama, Congress Sevadal chief Mangalsinh Solanki, former GPCC president Siddharth Patel and others attended the meeting.